Born: November 18, 1912Died: October 15, 1978 Ohio connection: Birth Elyria It was perhaps fate that an Elyria native, born in the same year as the tragic sinking of the Titanic, should devote his life to authoring books about life and death onboard ships. Dwight Boyer was born in Elyria, Ohio, on November 18,1912, and …
Read More Dwight BoyerBorn: November 25, 1899Died: April 25, 1982 Ohio connection: Birth Springfield Although an author of Westerns and a successful screenwriter, William Riley Burnett is best known as the originator of the gangster novel. The underworld icons of sleek cars, flashy clothes, bootleg liquor, and tommy guns find their origins in Burnett’s first novel, Little Caesar (1929). The …
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On Saturday, February 25, 2017, the weather was pleasant, mild—certainly not your typical winter day in Cleveland, Ohio. However, for 10 high school students and an audience that included their family members and teachers who gathered at the Cleveland Public Library, the day contained just the right atmosphere for an exceptional event. To view/print/download the program, …
Read More Congratulations to 2017 Ohio Poetry Out Loud Northeast Region FinalistsBorn: September 17, 1922Died: August 31, 2010 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Vance Nye Bourjaily, the son of Monte Ferris Bourjaily (journalist) and Barbara Webb (writer), was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922. His parents separated when he was eleven years old, and Bourjaily spent his childhood growing up in Connecticut, New York, and Virginia. In 1939, he …
Read More Vance Nye BourjailyBorn: 1949 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Louise Walker Borden was born in 1949 to William Lee and Louise (Crutcher) Walker. Inspired by a grandmother who loved history, Borden grew up fascinated by the stories of ordinary people and their relation to historical events. An avid reader of nonfiction and historical fiction, Borden majored in history at …
Read More Borden, LouiseBorn: February 21, 1927Died: April 22, 1996 Ohio connection: Birth Bellbrook (Dayton) Erma Louise Bombeck (nee Fiste), a columnist and best-selling author once named by the World Almanac as one of the most influential people in America, was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, on February 21, 1927, and grew up in one of the working-class neighborhoods on Hedges …
Read More Erma Louise BombeckBorn: May 28, 1929Died: November 15, 2015 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Stephen Birmingham was born in 1929 in Andover, Connecticut, son of Thomas and Editha (née Gardner) Birmingham. He received a B.A. degree from Williams College in 1953 and also studied for a time in England. He married Janet Tillson in 1953 with whom he had three …
Read More Stephen BirminghamBorn: 1951 Ohio connection: Resident Cleveland Poet and educator George Bilgere grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and Riverside, California. He received a B. A. from the University of California, Riverside, and an M.A. in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, before earning a Ph.D. in contemporary British and American poetry at the …
Read More George BilgereBorn: August 26, 1884 Died: April 5, 1933 Ohio connection: Birth Warren Earl Derr Biggers was born and raised in Warren, Ohio, the son of Robert J. Biggers and Emma Derr Biggers. He received a B.A. from Harvard University in 1907. He was a columnist and drama critic for the Traveler newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1908 until …
Read More Earl Derr BiggersBorn: June 24, 1842Died: 1914, Chihuahua, Mexico Ohio connection: Birth Horse Cave Creek, Meigs County Ambrose Gwinett Bierce, known in his time as the “wickedest man in San Francisco” for his acid wit and punishing observations was born in a log cabin on Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio, on June 24, 1842. The …
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