Born: 1954 Ohio connection: Resident Rootstown It took Cynthia Rylant only one hour to write her first book, When I Was Young in the Mountains (1982), a collection of vignettes describing the years she spent with her grandparents in Appalachia. Born in Hopewell, Virginia, in 1954, Rylant spent her first four years in Illinois. When she was four, …
Read More Cynthia RylantBorn: 1954 Ohio connection: Birth Columbus Michael Rosen was born in Columbus, Ohio, the eldest son of Marvin and Nona Rosen. His childhood home was in a new development situated amid a former pasture. It was there he explored construction sites and fields, collected cocoons, milkweed pods and chrysalises, gathered buckeyes, fed roadside horses, and fished. Rosen attended Kent State …
Read More Michael J. RosenBorn: October 24, 1927Died: July 9, 2013 Ohio connection: Birth Portsmouth Barbara Robinson was born in the southern Ohio river town of Portsmouth. Robinson’s father died when she was three and her mother, a school teacher, encouraged her to read books. Robinson began writing at an early age. She graduated from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, with …
Read More Barbara RobinsonBorn: 1966 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Dav Pilkey, son of David M. and Barbara (Pembridge) Pilkey, was born in 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was considered to be a “class clown” during his years at parochial schools in Elyria, Ohio. He also struggled with attention deficit disorder, and had numerous difficulties with teachers. It wasn`t until …
Read More Dav PilkeyBorn: 1966 Ohio connection: Birth Silver Lake A native Ohioan, Shelley Pearsall has enjoyed writing and history since childhood. Before publishing, she was a public school teacher and a museum historian. In her spare time, she wrote historical scripts and short stories for Cleveland-area museums. Shelley Pearsall’s work and writing often has been influenced by her love …
Read More Shelley PearsallBorn: February 17, 1912Died: March 17, 2005 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Andre Norton was born Alice May Norton on February 17, 1912, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Freely Norton, a rug salesman, and Bertha Stemm Norton. She attended Collinwood High School where she wrote for the school newspaper. Intending to become a history teacher, she attended Western Reserve …
Read More Andre NortonBorn: 1946 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Dr. Marilyn Nelson, daughter of Melvin M. Nelson, (U.S.A.F. airman) and Johnnie Mitchell Nelson (teacher) was born in Cleveland. Nelson began writing in childhood. She earned her B.A. from the University of California, Davis, and holds postgraduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (M.A., 1970) and the University of Minnesota (Ph.D., …
Read More Nelson, MarilynBorn: 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: July 10, 1905Died: May 28, 2008 Ohio connection: Resident Toledo Journalist and author Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson was born July 10, 1905, in Ladora, Iowa, where, even as a child, she knew she would be a writer. Benson authored more than 130 books and, although she published under several pseudonyms, she is best known as Carolyn Keene, the …
Read More Mildred Wirt BensonWilmington Born: October 5, 1878 Dead: June 24, 1948 Ohio connection: Birth Karl (originally spelled with a K, later changed to Carl) Everton Moon was born in Wilmington on October 5, 1878, to Sylvester Bronson Moon, a medical doctor, and Lucy (Brunette) Moon. He attended public school and graduated from Wilmington High School, class of 1897, soon …
Read More Moon, Carl