Born: 1943 Ohio connection: Former Resident Cleveland Robert Crumb, cartoonist, graphic artist, and editor is recognized as a pioneer in the underground comics movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Crumb’s work displays nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture. His work often …
Read More Crumb, RobertDid you know that May 5th, 2018 is Free Comic Book Day? Ohio Center for the Book and several other Cleveland Public Library branches are celebrating the day with free comics, movies, activities, and CAKE! Join the Ohio Center for the Book for these films that celebrate the spirit of FCBD. The following two film …
Read More Free Comic Book Day 2018Born: 1943 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and called “Nikki” by her younger sister early on. The family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, when she was young, but Giovanni remained close to her outspoken grandmother, making frequent trips to Knoxville and spending some of her high school years …
Read More Nikki GiovanniBorn: May 10, 1910Died: July 12, 1996 Ohio connection: Birth Castine Born on a farm near Castine, Ohio, Merrill C. Gilfillan was the son of the late Clarence and Bertha (Pierce) Gilfillan. He attended Castine School and graduated from Monroe School in Preble County in 1928. Gilfillan graduated with a degree in zoology from Ohio State University in …
Read More Merrill C. GilfillanBorn: July 8, 1933Died: April 10, 2016 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Editor, publisher, and award-winning children’s book author James Cross Giblin was born in Cleveland, but was raised in Painesville, Ohio. After receiving his B.A. in 1954 from Case Western Reserve University, he settled in New York City, earning his MFA in creative writing at Columbia in …
Read More James Cross GiblinBorn: 1932 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Nina Freedlander Gibans was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Samuel O. (a surgeon) and Adeline (a teacher) Freedlander. She married James David Gibans in 1955 and they have four children and four grandchildren. She attended Wellesley College, 1950-52, and earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1954. Her M.A. was earned from Western Reserve University (now …
Read More Gibans, Nina FreedlanderBorn: July 30, 1924Died: December 6, 2017 Ohio connection: Resident Warren William Howard Gass was an educator, essayist, critic, and novelist who valued form and language over plot and character. Known as a leading “experimental writer,” Gass was a prolific writer who wrote novels, novellas, short stories, and essays in literary criticism. Even though it’s …
Read More William H. GassBorn: 1949 Ohio connection: Birth Warren Many readers assume George is British, so accurate is her depiction of British life, but Susan Elizabeth George was born in Warren, Ohio, in 1949. When she was 18 months old, her father moved the family to the San Francisco Bay area, in part because he hated the Midwestern …
Read More George, (Susan) ElizabethBorn:1950 Ohio Connection: Resident Shaker Heights Mia Coulton has combined her passion for teaching reading with her love of pets in creating the “Danny” books, which chronicle the escapades and misadventures of Danny, Coulton’s five-year-old Labrador retriever. Danny, who harbors a penchant for Velveeta cheese chunks, is often thwarted in his attempts to sample more substantial …
Read More Coulton, MiaBorn: 1964 Ohio connection: Birth Washington Court House Margaret Peterson grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio. Her father, John Albert Peterson was a farmer and her mother, Marilee Grace Peterson, worked as a nurse. Margaret received her B.A. in creative writing and journalism from Miami University of Ohio in 1986. She …
Read More Margaret Peterson Haddix