| Elizabeth George Speare |
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Information AboutElizabeth George Speare |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ELIZABETH GEORGE SPEARE | |
| 1908 births | |
| speare, elizabeth george | |
| 1994 deaths | |
| american childrens writers | |
| american historical novelists | |
| laura ingalls wilder medal winners | |
| newbery medal winners | |
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Speare was born in , the setting for many of her books. Speare discovered her gift for writing at the age of eight and began composing stories while still in high school. After completing her Bachelor Of Arts degree at Smith College in 1930, she earned her Master's Degree in English from Boston University and taught English at several private Massachusetts high schools from 1932 to 1936. In 1936 she met her future husband, Alden Speare, and together the two moved to Connecticut where they married and raised two children; Alden, Jr., who was born in 1939, and Mary in 1942. Although Speare always intended to write, the challenges and responsibilities of being a mother and wife drained her of any free time. Speare began to focus seriously on literature when her children were in junior high school. Speare's first published work was a magazine article about skiing with her children. She also wrote many other magazine articles based on her experiences as a mother, and even experimented with one-act plays. Eventually her work saw circulation in '' Better Homes And Gardens '', '' Woman's Day '', '' Parents '', and '' American Heritage ''. Speare published '' Calico Captive '', her first novel, in 1957. The next year she completed her second historical fiction work, '' The Witch Of Blackbird Pond '', which won numerous awards, including the Newbery Medal. Ideas and inspiration for both books came to Speare while she was researching the history of New England and Connecticut, respectively. She earned her second Newbery Medal for her third book, '' The Bronze Bow '', published in 1961. In 1984 '' The Sign Of The Beaver '' was published and received a Newbery Honor Citation, the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and the Christopher Award. In 1989, Speare received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for her distinguished and enduring contribution to children's literature. Speare, who once said "it was always a thrill to watch some girl or boy discover for the first time the enchantment of reading and writing", died of an Aortic Aneurysm on November 15, 1994 in Northwest General Hospital in Tucson, Arizona . She was 85 years old. {Link without Title} Selected bibliography
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