Born: October 15, 1918 Died: July 8, 1994 Ohio connection: Birth Elyria Robert Edwin Lee, son of Claire Melvin and Elvira (Taft) Lee, was born in 1918 in Elyria, Ohio. He was educated at Northwestern University (1934), Ohio Wesleyan University (1935-37), Western Reserve University (1938), and Drake University (1943-44). He also served in the U.S. Army Air Force, …
Read More Robert Edwin LeeBorn: October 29, 1942Died: November 24, 1968 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Darryl Alfred Levy was born on October 29, 1942, on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a shoe salesman who had emigrated from England, and his mother was a homemaker. The family would move around the greater Cleveland area throughout the years, settling in …
Read More D.A. LevyBorn: 1942 Ohio connection: Resident Westerville J. Patrick Lewis was born in Gary, Indiana. The former Children’s Poet Laureate (2011-2013) received a B.A. degree from Saint Joseph’s College in 1964, an M.A. from Indiana University in 1965, and a PhD in economics from the Ohio State University in 1974. Lewis taught in the department of Business, Accounting …
Read More J. Patrick LewisBorn: 1942 Ohio connection: Resident Columbus Anthony Libby was born in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of James Miller and Gertrude (Wright) Libby. He received a bachelor’s degree from College of the Holy Cross (1963) and was awarded a yearlong Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. Two years later, he was awarded another, which ended in 1967 and overlapped with …
Read More Anthony LibbyBorn: September 20, 1833Died: February 15, 1888 Ohio connection: Resident Toledo David Ross Locke (pseudonym Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby) was born in 1833 in Vestal, New York. His family later moved to the village of Marathon, where he left school after completing grades 1-5. In 1845, at the age of twelve, David was hired by the Cortland Democrat …
Read More David Ross LockeBorn: October 14, 1893Died: September 11, 1974 Ohio connection: Birth Springfield Lois Lenski was one of the most prominent and highly respected authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults. Born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1893, Lenski was the daughter of Marietta (Young) Lenski, a former teacher, and Richard Charles Henry, a Lutheran minister. Her family moved …
Read More Lois LenskiBorn: 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 Will HillenbrandBorn: 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 Barbara Shook HazenBorn: 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 HickmanBorn: September 11, 1862Died: June 5, 1910 Ohio connection: Resident Columbus O. Henry was born William Sidney Porter, son of Algernon Sidney and Mary Jane Virginia (Swaim) Porter, in 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. When Porter was three years old, his mother died and he …
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