Category: Region

Katherine Ayres

Born: 1947 Ohio connection: Birth Columbus Katherine Ayres was born in Columbus to Ray and Betty Kent.  Ayres has been a lover of books since early childhood, when she began inventing stories before she could write them.  Ayres completed her undergraduate studies at the College of Wooster and earned an M.A. from Tufts University.  Her childhood home state …

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Russell Atkins

Born: February 25, 1926 Died: August 15, 2024 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Poet, playwright, editor, and composer Russell Atkins was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Perry Kelly and Mamie Bell Atkins. Admired for his “brilliant, idiosyncratic poetry and wide-ranging intellect,” Atkins’ writings challenged conventions of both form and content in poetry, drama, and literary theory. A …

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Tony Abbott

Born: 1952 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Tony Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio. The son of teachers, when he was eight, his family relocated to Fairfield, Connecticut, where his father became a university professor of American history. Abbott graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in English Literature. Reading bedtime stories to his …

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