Born: 1947 Ohio connection: Birth Akron As the creator of both “Funky Winkerbean” and “Crankshaft,” Tom Batiuk (rhymes with “attic”) has been able to critique, in comic form, the vagaries of both young adulthood and the golden years. Born in Akron in 1947, Batiuk’s natural talent for illustration first bore fruit in the cartoons that he …
Read More Thomas Martin BatiukBorn: 1948 Ohio connection: Resident Athens A novelist and playwright, Zakes Mda has won every major South African literary prize. He is the author of six novels, among them Ways of Dying (winner of the M-Net Award for best novel and the Olive Schreiner Prize), The Heart of Redness (winner of the Hurston/Wright LEGACY Award for Fiction; a New York Times …
Read More Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni “Zakes” MdaBorn: 1965 Ohio connection: Resident Cleveland Paula McLain was born in Fresno, California in 1965. After being abandoned by both parents, she and her two sisters became wards of the California Court System, moving in and out of various foster homes for the next fourteen years. After aging out of the system, she supported herself by working …
Read More Paula McLainBorn: November 18, 1911Died: July 27, 1972 Ohio connection: Resident Akron Ruth McKenney, an award-winning journalist for the Akron Beacon Journal, was born on November 18, 1911, in Michawaka, Indiana, and was raised in East Cleveland, Ohio. While attending Shaw High School, McKenney worked as a printer’s apprentice at the O. E. Thomas Print Shop and …
Read More Ruth McKenneyBorn: 1957 Ohio connection: Resident Columbus Erin McGraw was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Eva Marie and C. Thomas McGraw. She attended the University of California-Davis, earning an A.B. in 1979, and Indiana University-Bloomington, where she earned her M.F.A. in 1986. McGraw’s first two books, Bodies at Sea (1989) and Lies of the Saints, …
Read More Erin McGrawBorn: 1942 Ohio connection: Birth Bellaire Educator and poet, Ronald Earl McFarland, the son of Earl A. and Maxine (Stullenberger) McFarland, was born in Bellaire, Ohio, and grew up in Ohio and Florida. His education includes Brevard Junior College, A.A., 1962; Florida State University, B.A., 1963 M.A., 1965; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D., 1970. McFarland has …
Read More Ronald McFarlandFostoria Born: 1946 Ohio connection: Birth Sandra Markle was born in 1946 in Fostoria, Ohio, the daughter of Robert and Dorothy (Sauler) Haldeman. She received a B.A. degree from Bowling Green University in 1968. That same year, she married William Markle, with whom she had two children, Scott and Holly. Sandra Markle went on to do graduate …
Read More Sandra MarkleWest Salem Born: 1949 Ohio connection: Resident Dandi Daley Mackall, originally from Missouri, has published about 400 books for children and adults, with sales of 4 million in 22 countries. Her works have been published by numerous publishers that included, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Harper Collins. She’s a frequent guest on radio talk shows, has hosted over …
Read More Dandi Daley MackallBorn: October 23, 1918Died: July 14, 2011 Ohio connection: Resident Columbus Author, writer, photographer, and illustrator James P. Barry was born in Alton, Illinois. At the age of eight, he took his first ride on a Great Lakes freighter and, soon after, learned to sail a Mackinaw boat. He graduated from University High School in Normal, Illinois, …
Read More James P. BarryBorn: July 28, 1932Died: October 31, 2016 Ohio connection: Birth Dayton Born Natalie Zane Moore on July 28, 1932 in Dayton, Ohio, esteemed writer and illustrator Natalie Zane Babbitt was inspired by Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations in Alice in Wonderland to work with pen and ink, which became her specialty. She graduated from the Laurel School, a private academy for …
Read More Natalie Zane Moore Babbitt