Author Biography of Jean George
By: Maryssa Meaux
Birth
- Jean Craighead George was born on July 2, 1919.
- She was born in Washington.
- She was born into a family who loved nature.
- Her parents, siblings, aunts and uncles all studied nature in school.
- They went out camping on the weekends.
Family
- Her dad was a entomologist for the United States Forest Service.
- An entomologist is a person who studies insects.
- The family sometimes came with him on trips out in the field.
- She had two brothers named John and Frank.
- They grew up to be important naturalists who studied grizzly bears
Education and Childhood
- As a child she had a pet vulture turkey.
- Also with her family on the weekends she would gather edible plants, climb trees to study owls, and make fish hooks from twigs.
- She first started writing in third grade and has not stopped since.
- She graduated from Penn State University.
- She had a degree in Literature and Science.
- Before she was an anther she was a reporter for The Washington Post and was a part of the White House Press Corps.
As an Author and Books
- She has been a writer since third grade.
- As an author she wrote over 100 books.
- I think it is cool how her books are mostly about nature.
- Some books that she has written are "Julie of the Wolves" and "Vulpes the Red Fox".
- The book "My side of the Mountain" has a squeal called "Frightful's Mountain".
Writing Style
- I think that Jean's writing style deals mostly with nature or outdoors.
- You can tell this without even reading the book by looking at the title.
- For intense, the book "Snow Bear" is probably going have bears in it which is nature.
- Also the book "The Wounded Wolf" is probably going to be about hurt wolf.
Book Awards
- One book award that she has gotten was the Newbery Honor Award in 1960 for the book "My Side of the Mountain".
- Some more awards that she has gotten was the Knickerbocker Award in 1991 and the Empire State Author Award in 1998.
- Another book, "Julie of the Wolves", has gotten the Newbery Honor Award in 1973.
- She was also selected to go to the National Book Festival.
Fun Facts
- She is in the New York State Writers Hall of Fame.
- One summer, she learned that wolves are kind and friendly and communicate with coloration, sight, sound, posture, and scent.
- Wanting to learn more she and Luke went to the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska.
- Over there she learned how to talk to the wolves.
- This is where the inspiration of "Julie of the Wolves" came from.
Marriage
- She got married to a guy named John George in 1944.
- He was an ornithologist.
- They had many kids together.
- Their household grew to have 173 pets, not including cats and dogs.
- They had a crow that would take and put their coins in the bank for them.
- They also had an owl take liked to take showers, guest met a sign that warned them to take the owl out after taking a shower.
Children
- She had three children.
- Their names are Twig, Craig, and Luke.
- When they were old enough to carry backpacks of their own the went to nature.
- Luke and Craig are now both environmental scientists.
- Twig writes children's just like Jean.
Death
- The end of jeans life came on May 15, 2012.
- 92 was how old she was when she died.
- She died of congestive heart failure in a hospital at Mount Kisco New York.
- Many of she readers were heart broken at the news.
Cite Box
- "Entomologist | Bioscience Careers | About Bioscience." About Bioscience. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
- Fox, Margalit. "Jean Craighead George, Children’s Author, Dies at 92." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 May 2012. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
- "Jean Craighead George - Biography." Jean Craighead George - Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
- "New York Library Association. - The EBulletin." Remembering Jean Craighead George. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
- Nelson, Valerie J. "Jean Craighead George Dies at 92; Children's Author."Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
- "Craighead George, Jean." Craighead George, Jean. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.