Novelist.  Janet Dailey is best remembered as a prolific writer of romance novels, beginning in 1974 through 2010.  Born Janet Anne Haradon, she loved to read books from an early age and aspired to become a writer.  She graduated from Jefferson High School, Independence, Iowa in 1962 and worked for a construction firm owned by her future husband, William A. Dailey.  Convinced that she could write better romance novels that those she read, and with encouragement from her husband, she began writing romance novels in 1974 and sold her first manuscript to Harlequin and became their first American author.  She went on to write almost 60 novels for Harlequin, with 50 of them in the “Janet Dailey Americana Series,” one for each state.  In 1978 she and her husband relocated from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Branson, Missouri where he promoted and produced shows at the American Theater.  In 1979 she became the first romance author to transition from writing category romances to writing single-title romance novels.  Her first mass market romance novel, “Touch the Wind” (1979), reached the New York Times Best Seller List and many of her subsequent books have also been New York Times Best Sellers.  In 1993 she began offering the Janet Dailey Award, a $5,000 annual award presented to the author whose romance novel best addressed a social issue.  In 1997 she was sued by novelist Nora Roberts, who accused her of copying her work over a period of more than seven years.  She acknowledged the theft and blamed it on a psychological disorder, admitting that her novels “Aspen Gold” (1991) and “Notorious” (1996) contained ideas and passages borrowed from Roberts’ work and they were subsequently pulled from print.  In April 1998 she settled the case out of court.  Three years later, she signed a four-book deal with Kensington Books, with two books in the “Calder” series, about a ranching family in Montana, and two books with holiday themes.  The following year, she agreed for three additional novels with Kensington in the “Calder” series, along with a mass market original novel.  Her works have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold more than 325 million copies worldwide.  She died at her home at the age of 69.  Her novel “Foxfire Light” (1982) was made into a movie. (bio by: William Bjornstad)  Family links:  Spouse:  William Augustus Dailey (1928 – 2005)