Swiyyah Nadirah Woodard was selected as a Bay News 9 Everyday Hero, which was seen by two million viewers, for publishing a book and teaching the community about her own battle with mental illness. She was hospitalized six times and misdiagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Her first book, "Don't Call Me Crazy! I'm Just in Love," became required and suggested reading in Reading, Writing, Abnormal Psychology, and General Psychology classes at a four year Institution.
She was born in the housing projects of Saint Petersburg, FL. Her father left when she was three so she was raised in a single parent home. At the age of five she was molested by her eight year old brother. She later started school. She had slurred speech and didn't care to make
By the age of eight, Sandra Montanino lived in three different countries. These rich exposures immersed her into a wealth of cultures, languages, viewpoints, and provincial superstitions. Most fascinating and further igniting her imagination was her family’s tradition of sharing their own experiences and stories.
Sandra developed a true love of writing. Sadly, since all the old storytellers passed away, she realized she had an obligation to preserve their wisdom and treasures for her family’s future generation, but the book grew much bigger than she expected and it pleases her to share these gripping, funny, sad, and tender stories with everyone in The Weight of Salt wrapped in the ribbon of Sandra’s imagination.
