About Georja Umano
Readers marvel how Georja could narrate in the voice of dogs and seemingly really understand “doggish.” Besides being a guardian to two very charming dogs, her experiences as a journalist and conservationist precede her novel writing. But it’s also her work as a standup comedienne crafting witty phrases and her many professional acting gigs studying and performing offbeat characters that have informed her first novel, so far capturing 3 gold and 4 silver medals.
Georja Umano is a vegan animal activist who has organized, spoken, and written about animals and animal causes in the US, Italy and Kenya, especially in the fields of elephant and wildlife conservation. She is also a film, TV and theatre actress and stand-up comedian as well as teacher and journalist. She has earned a B.A. in English Literature at LeMoyne College and an M.A. in Educational Theatre at New York University.
Her acting career started in New York, and she always leaned toward comedy. She appeared of a on all the episodes sit com with Ed Asner “Off the Rack,” played the title character in a popular award-winning short film, “The Godmother” and was nominated for awards for her theatrical performance in “Kaballah” with Avery Schreiber at the Lexington Theatre. She has performed stand-up comedy in Los Angeles, San Diego, and in ten other states.
Things changed when she adopted a dog in 1997 and quickly became an avid animal advocate and feature journalist. She produced and starred in a cable show/web series with her dog, “The Georja and Marcello Show.” Soon afterward, she got involved with elephants. She went to Africa six times. She decided to move to Kenya, bringing her two rescue dogs, along with her husband, author Gerald Everett Jones. In her new novel, TERRIERS IN THE JUNGLE, she wrote about many of their adventures, including her plans to create “The Elephant Matriarch School” in Kenya. The novel is narrated by her dogs!