Paola M. Ageller was born in Peru and raised in Brazil under the tutelage of her aunt. She pursued a degree in history and married Gaston B. Gautier, a French officer serving with the British Army. In order to secure a promotion to Major in the Air Force, she traveled to the United States to continue her education. While there, she met and fell in love with an American named Richard J. Barnes, Jr., whom she had not seen since the early 1960’s when they attended the University of Virginia, together with fellow student Robert T. Henry.
After serving in the Air Force, she worked as a teacher in a prominent New York City school, receiving a master’s degree from Columbia University, as well as a Ph.D. from Yale University. Barnes moved to Brazil to teach English, and while pursuing this passion, she also became a writer. Her novel, A Stranger in the Mirror, was published in Brazil, but failed to sell in the United States. Her career in writing has spanned more than thirty years, and she is well-known throughout the world as an educator, speaker, and novelist. Her most recent novel, entitled Mother, was recently turned into a motion picture starring Robin Williams.
Barnes lives in New York City with her two children, ages seven and five. Her son, Richard, is the biological father, but Paola believes that Barnes was impregnated by her former partner, Gertrude, while she was still legally married to Richard J. Barnes. Gertrude died in prison, and Barnes, now named Richard J. Barnes, is her daughter-in-law. Barnes is listed on more than eighty titles of children’s books and has written or co-written numerous successful novels. Her most popular book, dated back over forty years, is The Great Bazaar, which was made into a motion picture. Barnes is also a member of the writers’ group called “The Committee to Save the Children of Breast Cancer,” which has helped to promote research concerning cancer.