By Aiyana Edmund | On February 20, 2018 | Updated April 4, 2026 | Comments (0)
Marguerite Annie Johnson Angelou (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014), widely known as Maya Angelou, was an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet, and civil rights activist. This celebrated, inspiring, and prolific woman is best known for a multitude of accomplishments.
Photo above right, Maya Angelou at Bill Clinton’s inauguration courtesy of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Wikimedia Commons.
Her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, made literary history as the first nonfiction best-seller by an African American woman. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On February 18, 2018 | Updated November 8, 2024 | Comments (0)
Margaret Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) is best known as the author of Gone With The Wind, one of the best-selling novels in American literature.
It was published in over 40 countries and adapted into the famed movie of the same name. It has been said that she herself was the model for Scarlett O’Hara, one of the most complex and charismatic of literary heroines.
Her father Eugene M. Mitchell, was an attorney and an authority on Georgia history. Her mother was Maybelle Stephens Mitchell, and she had one brother, Stephens Mitchell, who became an attorney and history buff like his father. Read More→
By Aiyana Edmund | On January 26, 2018 | Updated August 20, 2022 | Comments (0)
Astrid Anna Emilia Ericsson Lindgren (November 14, 1907 – January 28, 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays, best known for her children’s book series featuring the independent and strong Pippi Longstocking.
As of January 2017, Astrid Lindgren is the world’s eighteenth most-translated author, and the fourth most-translated children’s book writer. Her books have sold roughly 144 million copies worldwide.
Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On January 5, 2018 | Updated April 22, 2023 | Comments (0)
Frances Hodgson Burnett (November 24, 1849 – October 29, 1924) was born in Cheetham, England. She emigrated to the U.S. with her mother and siblings when she was in her teens, and started publishing stories in magazines to help support her family.
Burnett is best remembered as the author of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, though her prolific output went far beyond these now-classic works.
Victorian literature often had a rags-to-riches theme, or vice versa. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s own life reflected that theme. When she was born in England in 1840, she was one of five children in a household headed by a prosperous tradesman. He died when she was three, and the family’s fortunes plummeted.
Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On January 2, 2018 | Updated September 30, 2025 | Comments (4)
Beatrix Potter (July 28, 1866 – December 22, 1943) was a British author and illustrator of beloved children’s books populated by animals. Some of the best known are Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, and Jemima Puddleduck.
Her inspiration came from the natural world that surrounded her as a child, from which sprang an imagination that delights young readers to this day.
Beatrix was the daughter of conservative upper class parents, raised in a fine South Kensington home. As was typical for girls of her class, was educated at home by governesses. One of her only companions was her brother, Bertram, who was six years younger than she. Read More→
Categories: 
Comments: