Intrepid Explorer of inner and outer worlds, Jo is an educator, a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, a flautist, was a Sundancer, a student of martial arts, a certified combat analyst and an avid hiker and swimmer.  

Jo is a mother of a son and a daughter- Denali and Sequoia Schmidt, and former wife of the late USAF PJ, mountain guide and climber Martin W. Schmidt.

Jo's non-fiction, technical writing and research is published in New Zealand, Australia, the USA, Pakistan, Russia, India, and Iraq (in English).

Jo publishes her poetry and creative fiction under Jo Patti.