Elizabeth Enright

Elizabeth Wright Enright Gillham was an American writer of childrens books, an illustrator, writer of short stories for adults, literary critic and teacher of creative writing. Perhaps best known as the Newbery Medalwinning author of Thimble Summer and the Newbery runnerup GoneAway Lake , she also wrote the popular Melendy quartet . A multiple winner of the O. Henry Award, her short stories and articles for adults appeared in many popular magazines and have been reprinted in anthologies and textbooks.

Elizabeth Wright Enright was born September 17, 1909, in Oak Park, Illinois. Her father, Walter J. Enright, was a political cartoonist. Her mother, Maginel Wright Enright, , was also a book and magazine illustrator, a shoe designer for Capezio, and author of the memoir, The Valley of the GodAlmighty Joneses. The Enrights divorced when Elizabeth was eleven, and after that she attended boarding school in Connecticut. Her mother remarried, becoming Maginel Wright Barney. Originally, Enright intended to be a dancer, and for a time she studied under the famous Martha Graham.141 Her summers were spent on Nantucket Island, off the coast of New England, a location she later used in some of her books.

Source: Wikipedia