Born: December 27, 1896Died: March 18, 1956 Ohio connection: Birth Mansfield Louis Bromfield (birth name Lewis Brumfield), the son of Annette Maria Coulter Brumfield and Charles Brumfield, was a Pulitzer-Prize-winning novelist and a screenwriter, essayist, and conservationist. Bromfield, the author of thirty-three books of fiction and nonfiction may best be remembered for his early advocacy of land …
Read More Louis BromfieldBorn: 1954 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland The eldest daughter of four siblings, Mary Elise Weems was born in Cleveland where her mother, Elaine B. Lacy, a lifelong resident of the city, raised her. Weems started writing poetry at the age of thirteen and found her vocation. Her creative spirit-eye has turned more and more outward to …
Read More Mary E. WeemsBorn: 1958 Ohio connection: Resident Chagrin Falls & Cleveland Heights Bill Watterson, creator of the beloved comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” was born in Washington, D.C., and moved with his family to Chagrin Falls, Ohio, when he was six years old. Watterson preferred to spend his time alone drawing — a talent he lent to his …
Read More Bill WattersonBorn: June 5, 1926Died: December 18, 2021 Ohio connection: Birth Massillon David Russell Wagoner was born in Massillon, Ohio, in 1926, the son of Walter Siffert and Ruth Banyard Wagoner. In 1933, the family relocated to Whiting, a city outside Gary, Indiana. A voracious reader, Wagoner began writing poetry while in grade school. After graduating from …
Read More David WagonerBorn: 1976 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Brian K. Vaughan was born in 1976 in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating high school, Vaughan moved to New York City to attend New York University hoping to pursue a career in filmmaking. While there, Vaughan attended a comic book scripting session with two editors from Marvel Comics. Vaughan submitted a few …
Read More Brian K. VaughanBorn: 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: August 15, 1915Died: October 9, 2003 Ohio connection: Birth Alliance Brinton Cassaday Turkle was an author and illustrator of twenty children’s books; he wrote about overcoming adversities, the power of truth, and reverence for all living creatures. During his career, Turkle illustrated over 100 books for other authors. Born on August 15, 1915, in Alliance, …
Read More Brinton TurkleBorn: 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 21, 1935 Died: May 6, 2004 Ohio connection: Resident Cleveland Daniel Thompson was a poet and activist who, in 1992, became the first Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. A lifelong champion of civic and literary engagement, Thompson was born April 21, 1935, in Washington, D.C., but the Thompson family moved to Cleveland …
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