Gloria L. Amos (1920–2012) was an Englewood-based writer, educator, and longtime public school staff member whose late-in-life literary work drew deeply on family, memory, and place.

Born in the early twentieth century, Gloria Amos spent much of her adult life balancing work, family, and community responsibility. She was a resident of Englewood, New Jersey from 1966 onward and worked for decades in public education. In 1994, she retired from the Englewood Board of Education, where she served as a secretary at Janis E. Dismus Middle School, a role that placed her at the heart of daily school life and community interaction.

Amos began her writing journey later in life after enrolling in an adult writing class in the early 1980s, following the death of her husband. What started as a short-story assignment—an exercise focused on one of the seven deadly sins—eventually evolved into her first novel, Losing Yet Loving. The book, described by Amos as “factional,” blended fiction with lived experience and explored themes of love, family obligation, betrayal, sexuality, and survival. Set in part in Englewood, the novel references local streets, landmarks, and neighborhoods, grounding its emotionally charged narrative in the geography of her everyday life.

Published after more than a decade of intermittent writing, Losing Yet Loving was followed by a second book, Resurgence from the Abyss, further cementing Amos’s legacy as a writer who transformed personal hardship into creative expression. Though modest about her accomplishments—famously remarking that she did not consider herself “a real writer”—she viewed her books as a lasting legacy for her children and family.

Gloria Amos passed away on February 18, 2012, at the age of 91, in Edgewater, New Jersey. She was the mother of two sons, Terrell and Kenneth (Jollyn) Amos, and is remembered by five grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and a wide circle of relatives, friends, students, and colleagues. Her life stands as a testament to the power of education, perseverance, and storytelling at any stage of life.