The visit brought her an instant love for the town, she said. In 1967, she and her husband Wayne were married in the town on Sandy Bay. Now living in Ohio, they have returned to visit almost every summer since.
One summer visit 10 years ago inspired the children's author's latest book, "Big Red's Greatest Find."
That was the summer the Sheppards stayed at a cottage on Squam Hill Road with friends from Ohio and the friends' 7-year-old son Anthony.
"Let's just say he was a lot to deal with," Sheppard said.
When she returned home, Sheppard wrote a short story for Anthony that became the basis of her book.
"Big Red's Greatest Find" is about Bentley Ross, a "somewhat unruly" 10-year-old, and his misadventures with a stray dog he finds in a Dogtown quarry and calls Big Red. Eventually, he learns that there is a consequence for every action and that when parents tell you not to do something, it's because they love you and don't want you to get hurt, Sheppard said.
Wayne Sheppard calls "Big Red's Greatest Find" "the little book with a big story."
Many of the incidents in the story are based on real events, Sheppard said. For example, the Sheppards actually found a dog at the Rockport quarry.
The slim book is full of Rockport details including the player piano at the General Store and the exotic shells at Captain's Steve's Sea Shell Shop.
Sheppard's first books were a series of three "storytime reads" about the adventures of an inch worm but, when visiting schools, she said she learned second-grade pupils couldn't wait to get their hands on more grown-up books with chapters.
The book also includes a section of chapter questions for use by teachers.
"I was a special education aide for fourth- and fifth-graders," Sheppard said. "I thought it would be very helpful for teachers to have some direction" when reading the book with pupils.
Sheppard said she also hopes to visit Rockport Elementary School as a guest author in October, when she returns for the 40th reunion of Saugus High School's Class of 1966.
Sheppard's husband, an artist and art teacher in Ohio, illustrated the book.
Sheppard said she loves his "quirky style of pen and ink" and exaggerated perspective.
Drawing Bentley took many drafts, she said, until her husband "finally surprised himself" with the look for the boy used in the book.
"It wasn't anything like what he thought it would be," Sheppard said. "Bentley basically created himself."
Sheppard is working on her next book, about an 11-year-old girl who is taken out of school and forced to go to Italy to meet her relatives but gradually comes to enjoy the experience. She said the story was inspired by a trip with her husband.
As for Anthony, Sheppard said, he is now 19 years old and doing well in college and "turned out to be a wonderful kid."
Sheppard's book can be purchased at Captain Steve's Sea Shell Shop, Earth's Treasures, The Country Store, The Paper Mermaid and Toad Hall Books in Rockport and The Book Store in Gloucester.
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