Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1951, Jo List obtained her Associates in Science degree at Becker College in 1972. Exhibiting musical talent from an early age, Jo sang with several choruses and bands in the New England area and has appeared on stage with such notables as Count Basie and his orchestra, Muddy Waters, Duke Levine, Sean Carney, and Gene Walker. Earning a Gold Record for her work on “Twisted Christmas,” Jo also released two additional albums, “Boys and Girls” and “Natural Girl,” featuring her own work, and has appeared in countless radio and television advertisements and other musical projects.

Jo and husband Mark have been married for 30 years and have two daughters and two granddaughters. Jo and Mark live and work on Estero Island. Daughter Sarah is a skin and nails specialist at One Flight Up Salon, while daughter Lorna works at Edison College in the field of early childhood education. The family is fully committed to Southwest Florida.

In 1984, Jo assumed the position of Director of Admissions at Delphi Academy of Boston in Milton, Massachusetts – a private, independent school which she and the founding members grew from a preschool of about eight students to a fully accredited preschool through Grade 8 program with over 100 students. Among her responsibilities: interviewing and pre-testing all interested families, creating administrative routing forms, producing the school’s newsletter, formulating, designing and putting into effect marketing and advertising campaigns for the school, performing as student advisor, working up the yearly budget for the admissions and marketing areas, leading literature seminars, and acting as a liaison and sometimes-mediator between parents, teachers and students.

In 1995, Jo and Mark moved to Southwest Florida. Since that fateful ride over the Bridge at Matanzas Pass, Jo has been in love with the Island.

During her work one year as the Town’s transcriptionist, Jo gained first-hand knowledge of the workings of the community. Her thirst for understanding led her to research terminology, acronyms, and the names and positions of individuals mentioned in the course of any of the meetings.

Since its inception eight years ago, the Island Sand Paper has given Jo a lot of space to write about the things for which she feels great passion, mainly about the people and places on Ft. Myers Beach that she has grown to care about very much. Her articles clearly show her dedication to factual reporting to the residents of and visitors to Estero Island.

Jo serves on the Board of Directors of the Island Arts Foundation, and has appeared at all the major musical events that this group has produced around the Island.

When she’s not writing, singing or otherwise buzzing around the Island, you can find Jo out on the Back Bay with Mark in their little handmade boat, waiting for the Scarlet Ibis and his flockmates to swoop by on their way to their sunset roost.