Born: 1960 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Will Hillenbrand was born in Cincinnati to Earl (a barber) and Alice (Zins) Hillenbrand and has lived almost all his life in Cincinnati where he grew up surrounded by stories. The youngest of four boys with diverse personalities and talents, Hillenbrand found himself interested in drawing. His older brother sketched …
Read More Hillenbrand, WillBorn: 1930 Ohio connection: Birth Dayton Barbara Hazen was born Barbara Shook, daughter of Charles Harman and Elizabeth (Foster) Shook, in 1930, in Dayton, Ohio. She received a B.A. from Smith College in 1951 and an M.A. from Columbia University in 1952. She married Freeman Brackett Hazen in 1956, and they had one child, Freeman Brackett, Jr., …
Read More Hazen, Barbara ShookBorn: July 8, 1940 Died: April 30, 2020 Ohio connection: Birth Kilbourne Janet Hickman was born Janet Gephart, daughter of Bernard Franklin and Pauline (Williams) Gephart, in Kilbourne, Ohio, in 1940. She received a B.S. in 1960, an M.A. in 1964, and a Ph.D. in 1979, all from Ohio State University. She married John Hickman in 1961, …
Read More Janet HickmanOn Sunday, December 3, 2017 from 4:00 -7:00 p.m Mindy Hoffbauer, publicist for the bestselling novelist W. Bruce Cameron, will host a Lit Salon featuring Ohio Young Adult novelist Kristina McBride. To date, McBride has published four novels, i.e. THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES (2010), ONE MOMENT (2012), A MILLION TIMES GOODNIGHT (2016), and THE BAKERSVILLE …
Read More Register to meet YA author Kristina McBride on Sunday, December 3, 2017 in Springboro, OhioBorn: November 28, 1901Died: February 3, 1984 Ohio connection: Former Resident Oxford Walter Havighurst, son of Freeman Alfred and Winifred (Weter) Havighurst, was born in 1901 in Appleton, Wisconsin. He received a B.A. from the University of Denver in 1924, and an M.A. from Columbia University in 1928. He married a writer, Marion Boyd, in 1930. After a …
Read More Walter HavighurstBorn: March 12, 1934Died: February 19, 2002 Ohio connection: Birth Yellow Springs “If you can dream it, then you can have it.” A powerful axiom that encapsulates the accomplishments and triumphs of its speaker, Virginia Hamilton. Descendant of a maternal grandfather who escaped from slavery in Virginia to settle in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Hamilton grew …
Read More Virginia HamiltonBorn: June 20, 1911 Died: October 23, 1964 Ohio connection: Birth Toledo Edward McMaken Eager was born in 1911 in Toledo, Ohio. He was raised in Toledo, but spent most of the summers of his childhood and youth in rural Indiana, where he developed a love of nature, gardening, and bird-watching. These interests stayed with him the rest …
Read More Eager, Edward McMaken(Sharon Rigg) Born: 1945 Ohio connection: Birth South Euclid Sharon Creech, a writer of more than 20 picture books for children and novels for young adults (YA), was born and raised in South Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. She grew up there as part of, as she says, “a noisy and rowdy family.” Relatives told …
Read More Creech, SharonOhio connection: Birth Columbus Kacy Cook was born in Columbus, Ohio, the second of six children. Her father was a federal agent, and her mother was an artist and dress designer. Kacy still lives in Columbus and has three grown children. Since attending Ohio State University, Kacy has worked in journalism and publishing. In addition, …
Read More Cook, KacyBorn: September 19, 1957Died: December 26, 2015 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Children’s book author and educator Andrea Cheng was born in El Paso, Texas. The daughter of Hungarian immigrants who grew up and lived most of her life in Cincinnati, Ohio, she and her two siblings grew up in an extended family, which Cheng once described as …
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