Born: 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: October 13, 1890Died: October 30, 1968Ohio connection: Resident Cleveland Conrad Michael Richter was born October 13, 1890, in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, and grew up in a series of tiny coal mining towns with his parents: John Absalom, a Lutheran minister, and Charlotte Esther (Henry) Richter. Richter’s formal schooling ended when he graduated from high school …
Read More Conrad RichterBorn: 1978 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland James Renner, novelist, freelance journalist, and former newspaper editor, graduated from Kent State University in 2000 with a degree in English. He has also taught creative writing. Renner’s nonfiction books focus on unsolved crimes and strange stories from Ohio. While working as a staff writer for the alternative weekly, Cleveland Scene …
Read More James RennerBorn: 1962 Ohio connection: Resident Cleveland Rick Porrello is a veteran Cleveland-area police officer who grew up in a family with Mafia roots. His grandfather and three of his uncles were mob leaders who were killed during Prohibition-era violence. His popular book, The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia (1995), grew out of research on his family. …
Read More Rick PorrelloBorn: 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: January 2, 1900Died: May 10, 1980 Ohio connection: Birth Delphos Leslie Copus Peltier, son of Stanley William and Resa (Copus) Peltier, was born in 1900 in Delphos, Ohio. Growing up on a farm in the country, he quickly developed a great love for nature. His mother introduced him to the wonders of the night sky by …
Read More Leslie Copus PeltierBorn: November 14, 1947Died: February 15, 2022 Ohio connection: Birth Toledo Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, journalist and satirist Patrick Jake “P.J.” O’Rourke was the son of Clifford and Delphine (née Loy) O’Rourke. After receiving his undergraduate degree in 1969 from Miami University of Ohio, O’Rourke earned an M.A. in English in 1970 from Johns …
Read More P. J. O’Rourke (Patrick Jake)Born: 1955 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Susan Orlean is the daughter of Arthur and Edith Gross Orlean. In 1976, she obtained her B.A. from the University of Michigan. From 1983-1986, she was a staff writer for the Boston Phoenix. After a year spent with The Boston Globe as a columnist, she has been, since 1987, an editor for Rolling Stone …
Read More Susan OrleanBorn: 1954 Ohio connection: Resident Delaware Accomplished writer and professor, Robert M. Olmstead is the son of James Paul (a factory worker) and Adeline Olmstead. He was raised on a six generation dairy farm near Keene, New Hampshire not far from the banks of the Connecticut River. He has authored the novels America by Land, A Trail of Heart’s …
Read More Robert OlmsteadBorn: September 10, 1935Died: January 17, 2019 Ohio connection: Birth Maple Heights Mary Oliver, daughter of Edward William and Helen M. (Vlasak) Oliver, was born in 1935 in the Maple Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. At the age of thirteen, Oliver had a great desire to be a writer. In 1950, when she was fifteen, she visited …
Read More Mary Oliver