Born: 1949 Ohio connection: Birth Wapakoneta Novelist, essayist, editor, and educator Jennifer Crusie is an award-winning author of romance novels, short stories, and literary criticism. The author of more than 20 books, her work has been published in more than 15 countries and has earned a place on many bestseller lists including the New York …
Read More Crusie, JenniferBorn: 1924 Died: 2023 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Herbert Gold was born in 1924, the eldest of the four sons of Samuel S. Gold and Frieda (Frankel) Gold. When he was in grade school, a teacher, Ruth Collins, told him that he would be a writer, and this impressed the boy so much that he …
Read More Herbert GoldBorn: 1945 Ohio connection: Birth Akron A longtime resident of Ohio, poet Elton Glaser was born and raised in Louisiana. He earned an MFA from the University of California, Irvine. Glaser’s collections of poetry include Relics (1984); Tropical Depressions(1988), which won the Iowa Poetry Prize; Color Photographs of the Ruins (1992); Winter Amnesties (2000); and Pelican Tracks(2003). His sixth collection, Here and Hereafter (2005), received …
Read More Elton GlaserBorn: 1943 Ohio connection: Former Resident Cleveland Robert Crumb, cartoonist, graphic artist, and editor is recognized as a pioneer in the underground comics movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Crumb’s work displays nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture. His work often …
Read More Crumb, RobertDid you know that May 5th, 2018 is Free Comic Book Day? Ohio Center for the Book and several other Cleveland Public Library branches are celebrating the day with free comics, movies, activities, and CAKE! Join the Ohio Center for the Book for these films that celebrate the spirit of FCBD. The following two film …
Read More Free Comic Book Day 2018Born: 1943 Ohio connection: Resident Cincinnati Yolanda Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and called “Nikki” by her younger sister early on. The family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, when she was young, but Giovanni remained close to her outspoken grandmother, making frequent trips to Knoxville and spending some of her high school years …
Read More Nikki GiovanniBorn: 1945 Ohio connection: Birth Mt. Gilead Son of the late conservationist and author Merrill C. Gilfillan, Merrill Daniel Gilfillan was born in 1945 in rural Ohio, along the borders of the Appalachian Mountains. Growing up in that region greatly affected his writing which often included descriptions of the landscape. Following his graduation from the …
Read More Merrill D. GilfillanBorn: May 10, 1910Died: July 12, 1996 Ohio connection: Birth Castine Born on a farm near Castine, Ohio, Merrill C. Gilfillan was the son of the late Clarence and Bertha (Pierce) Gilfillan. He attended Castine School and graduated from Monroe School in Preble County in 1928. Gilfillan graduated with a degree in zoology from Ohio State University in …
Read More Merrill C. GilfillanBorn: July 8, 1933Died: April 10, 2016 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Editor, publisher, and award-winning children’s book author James Cross Giblin was born in Cleveland, but was raised in Painesville, Ohio. After receiving his B.A. in 1954 from Case Western Reserve University, he settled in New York City, earning his MFA in creative writing at Columbia in …
Read More James Cross GiblinBorn: 1932 Died: 1998 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Nina Freedlander Gibans was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Samuel O. (a surgeon) and Adeline (a teacher) Freedlander. She married James David Gibans in 1955 and they had four children and four grandchildren. She attended Wellesley College, 1950-52, and earned a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in …
Read More Nina Freedlander Gibans