Born: February 25, 1926 Died: August 15, 2024 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Poet, playwright, editor, and composer Russell Atkins was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Perry Kelly and Mamie Bell Atkins. Admired for his “brilliant, idiosyncratic poetry and wide-ranging intellect,” Atkins’ writings challenged conventions of both form and content in poetry, drama, and literary theory. A …
Read More Russell AtkinsBorn: October 31, 1876Died: February 2, 1972 Ohio connection: Birth Dayton Natalie Clifford Barney was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1876, the daughter of Albert Clifford and Alice Pike Barney. She was educated at Les Ruches boarding school in Fountainbleau, France, and completed finishing school at Miss Ely’s School for Girls in New York City. She …
Read More Natalie Clifford BarneyBorn: December 25, 1900Died: May 11, 1975 Ohio connection: Birth Mansfield Author and historian Paul McClelland Angle was born on December 25, 1900, in Mansfield, Ohio. Angle graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1922 with a degree in history and earned a master’s degree from the University of Illinois in 1924. In order to …
Read More Paul M. AngleBorn: September 23, 1838 Died: June 9, 1927 Ohio connection: Birth Homer Victoria Woodhull was a suffragist and feminist writer who was a passionate campaigner for social justice. She was the first American woman to address the U.S. Congress and ran for President of the United States. Born Victoria Claflin in 1838 in the small …
Read More Victoria WoodhullBorn: 1964 Ohio connection: Birth Columbus Jacqueline Woodson was born in 1964 in Columbus, Ohio. She grew up in Greenville, South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York. She received a B.A. in English from Adelphia University in 1985, and also studied at the New School for Social Research. Writing has been a passion for Woodson since childhood. …
Read More Woodson, JacquelineBorn: 1936 Ohio connection: Resident Oberlin Born in Davenport, Iowa, David Young earned his undergraduate degree from Carleton College in 1958. Later Young earned an M.A. and a doctorate degree from Yale University. Until his retirement in 2003, David Young was Longman Professor of English at Oberlin College, where he continues to work as the editor …
Read More Young, DavidBorn: 1969 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Born in 1969, Tracie Vaughn Zimmer and her identical twin sister, Trish grew up in West Chester, Ohio, where three generations of her family still reside. Vaughn Zimmer majored in Special Education at The Ohio State University earning a B.A. and received her master’s degree in reading from Miami University …
Read More Tracie Vaughn ZimmerBorn: 1932 Ohio connection: Former Resident Bowling Green Howard McCord, son of Frank Edward and Sylvia Joe (Coe) McCord, was born in 1932 in El Paso, Texas. He married Dora Garcia Ochoa in 1953. The couple had two children, Colman and Robert. The marriage later ended in divorce, and McCord married Jennifer Sue Revis in 1975. They had …
Read More Howard McCordBorn: November 11, 1942Died: November 12, 1997 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Poet, essayist, and educator William Matthews was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 11, 1942. He earned a B.A. degree from Yale University in 1965 and an M.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1966. Matthews was cofounder (with Russell …
Read More William MatthewsBorn: 1955 Ohio connection: Resident Columbus The only child of Roy Martin (a farmer and storyteller) and Beulah Read Martin (teacher), Lee Martin grew up on a farm in Lukin Township, Illinois (Lawrence County). When Lee was only a year old, his father lost both of his hands in a farming accident but continued farming with prosthetic …
Read More Lee Martin