Born: 1948 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Jonathan Louis Valin, son of Sigmund and Marcella (Fink) Valin, was born in 1948 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Valin married Katherine Brockhaus in 1971 and did his undergraduate work at the University of Cincinnati; he received an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1974; and did doctoral study at Washington University …
Read More Valin, Jonathan LouisBorn: 1961 Ohio connection: Resident Cleveland “Bracingly honest…a perceptive and often piercing writer” is how The New York Times describes Thrity Umrigar, an Indian émigré who now calls Ohio home. Born in Bombay, Thrity left India for Ohio at the age of 21 in part because she felt she “would never be totally independent and would never discover …
Read More Umrigar, ThrityBorn: May 2, 1838 Died: May 21, 1905 Ohio Connection: Birth Williamsfield Albion Winegar Tourgée, son of Valentine and Louisa (Winegar) Tourgée, was born in 1838 in Williamsfield, Ohio. He spent his early years on a farm where he developed the Republican values of Western Reserve reformism. After high school, Tourgée attended the University of …
Read More Albion Winegar TourgéeBorn: 1942 Ohio connection: Birth Canton Reading late at night with a flashlight under the covers, Stephanie Tolan discovered early on the magic of the written word. Born in Canton, Ohio, and raised in Wisconsin, Tolan wrote her first story in fourth grade. Although she had received rejection slips by the time she was 11, Tolan …
Read More Tolan, Stephanie S.Born: April 6, 1892 Died: August 29, 1981 Ohio connection: Birth Woodington Lowell Thomas, son of Harry George and Harriet (nėe Wagner) Thomas, was born in 1892 in Woodington, Ohio. He received a B.S. from Valparaiso University in 1911, an M.A. from the University of Denver in 1912, and an M.A. from Princeton University in 1916. He …
Read More Lowell ThomasBorn: 1943 Ohio connection: Resident Toledo Mildred Delois Taylor was born in 1943 in Jackson, Mississippi, to Wilbert Lee and Deletha M. Taylor. Although born in the South, her family moved to the North, settled in Toledo, Ohio, three weeks after she was born. The Taylors’ migration to the North was because her father did …
Read More Taylor, Mildred D.Born: June 14, 1811Died: July 1, 1896 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Author and social reformer Harriet Beecher Stowe, whose Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped galvanize anti-slavery efforts across the nation, was a Connecticut native who spent the years 1832–1850 in Cincinnati, Ohio, settling in the Walnut Hills area. During those eighteen years, she would become a wife, …
Read More Harriet Beecher StoweBorn: 1943 Ohio connection: Birth Columbus Entered into the Guinness World Records 2000: Millennium Edition as author of the world’s top-selling children’s stories, Robert Laurence Stine was born in Columbus, Ohio. When he was nine years old, he began writing short stories, jokes, and comic books for his friends. He attended Ohio State University and …
Read More R.L. StineBorn: November 30, 1894Died: August 2, 1980 Ohio connection: Birth Columbus Donald Ogden Stewart was born in 1894 in Columbus, Ohio, the son of Gilbert Holland Stewart, a prominent judge, and Clara (Landon) Stewart. He received an A.B. degree from Yale University in 1916. After graduation, he attempted a career in business, working for American Telephone …
Read More Donald Ogden StewartBorn: November 9, 1872Died: May 13, 1962 Ohio connection: Birth Chillicothe Author, anthologist, and librarian Burton Egbert Stevenson was born in 1872 in Chillicothe, Ohio. He attended Princeton University, 1890-93, during which time he also worked as a correspondent for United Press and the New York Tribune, 1891-93. He was a reporter for the Chillicothe Leader, Chillicothe, Ohio, …
Read More Burton Egbert Stevenson