Born: June 24, 1842Died: 1914, Chihuahua, Mexico Ohio connection: Birth Horse Cave Creek, Meigs County Ambrose Gwinett Bierce, known in his time as the “wickedest man in San Francisco” for his acid wit and punishing observations was born in a log cabin on Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio, on June 24, 1842. The …
Read More Ambrose Gwinett BierceBorn: July 20, 1924Died: July 13, 2014 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Thomas Louis Berger was born on July 20, 1924, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The son of Thomas Charles Berger and Mildred (née Bubbe) Berger received a B.A. degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1948. He then pursued graduate study at Columbia University, but left to …
Read More Thomas BergerBorn: July 10, 1905Died: May 28, 2008 Ohio connection: Resident Toledo Journalist and author Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson was born July 10, 1905, in Ladora, Iowa, where, even as a child, she knew she would be a writer. Benson authored more than 130 books and, although she published under several pseudonyms, she is best known as Carolyn Keene, the …
Read More Mildred Wirt BensonBorn: 1967 Ohio connection: Birth Cleveland Brian Michael Bendis is an award-winning artist and writer of comics/graphic novels. A prolific writer, Bendis was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in a Jewish-American family. Bendis always aspired to make comic books, reportedly declaring at age five that he would be the artist for Spider-Man. Later, he attended classes …
Read More Brian Michael BendisBorn: December 29, 1941Died: August 5, 2014 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Born on December 29, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Joe David Bellamy was the son of Orin Ross and Beulah Pearl (Zutavern) Bellamy. He attended Duke University (1959-1961), received a BA in Literature from Antioch College in 1964, and received an MFA in English and Creative Writing from the University …
Read More Joe David BellamyBorn: June 21, 1850Died: June 11, 1941 Ohio connection: Birth Cincinnati Daniel Carter Beard, author, illustrator, and a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1850. Beard, the son of celebrated portrait artist James Henry Beard and Mary Caroline (Carter) Beard, developed an intense love of nature in his youth. He …
Read More Daniel Carter BeardBorn: November 18, 1911Died: July 27, 1972 Ohio connection: Resident Akron Ruth McKenney, an award-winning journalist for the Akron Beacon Journal, was born on November 18, 1911, in Michawaka, Indiana, and was raised in East Cleveland, Ohio. While attending Shaw High School, McKenney worked as a printer’s apprentice at the O. E. Thomas Print Shop and …
Read More Ruth McKenneyBorn: October 23, 1918Died: July 14, 2011 Ohio connection: Resident Columbus Author, writer, photographer, and illustrator James P. Barry was born in Alton, Illinois. At the age of eight, he took his first ride on a Great Lakes freighter and, soon after, learned to sail a Mackinaw boat. He graduated from University High School in Normal, Illinois, …
Read More James P. BarryBorn: July 28, 1932Died: October 31, 2016 Ohio connection: Birth Dayton Born Natalie Zane Moore on July 28, 1932 in Dayton, Ohio, esteemed writer and illustrator Natalie Zane Babbitt was inspired by Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations in Alice in Wonderland to work with pen and ink, which became her specialty. She graduated from the Laurel School, a private academy for …
Read More Natalie Zane Moore BabbittBorn: 1954 Ohio connection: Resident Granville David Baker was born in Bangor, Maine, and grew up in Central Missouri where he earned a B.S.E. in 1976 and an M.A. in 1977. After earning a Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1983, Baker made his way to Ohio to teach English as an assistant professor at …
Read More David Anthony Baker