Elizabeth Yates McGreal (December 6, 1905 – July 29, 2001) was an American writer. She may have been known best for the biographical novel Amos Fortune, Free Man, winner of the 1951
Newbery Medal. She had been a Newbery runner-up in 1944 for Mountain Born. She began her writing career as a journalist, contributing travel articles to The Christian Science Monitor and The New York Times. Many of her books were illustrated by the British artist
Nora S. Unwin.[1]
Yates wrote a three-volume autobiography:[2]My Diary – My World (1981), My Widening World (1983), and One Writer's Way (1984).[better source needed]
Early years and education
Elizabeth Yates was born in
Buffalo, New York,[3] the daughter of Harry and Mary Duffy Yates. She was the seventh of eight children. Her father owned a plantation. She had a love of animals and the land, which stemmed from her childhood experiences.[citation needed]
Books were an important part of her life. Yates credited her mother for instilling in her a love for books by reading aloud to the family.[5][third-party source needed] At the age of 12, at the request of her father, Yates read through the whole Bible. This was to become one of her favorite books. Her sister also encouraged her to read, and made a list of recommended books for Elizabeth.[6][self-published source?][self-published source?]
From an early age, Yates enjoyed writing. In her childhood, she transformed an unused pigeon loft on the family farm into a secret writing place.[7][third-party source needed]
Career
After her schooling was finished, she moved to
Manhattan and began writing book reviews and newspaper articles. In 1929, she married William Henry and the couple moved to
England, where they lived for the next 10 years.[3] In 1938, her first book, High Holiday, was an adult novel set in the
Swiss Alps.[8]
The couple returned to the United States in 1939, and settled in
Peterborough, New Hampshire.[3] They bought a farm, and a discovery of old artwork during the restoration of the farmhouse prompted Yates to write Patterns on the Wall.[4][better source needed] Personal experience formed the basis of many of Yates' novels. Her passion for the land led her to write The Road Through Sandwich Notch, a book which was influential in preserving that portion of
New Hampshire for inclusion in the
White Mountain National Forest.[9][self-published source?][self-published source?]
Yates conducted writer's workshops at the University of New Hampshire, the
University of Connecticut, and
Indiana University.[10] She also served as the Director of the New Hampshire Association for the Blind.[10]
Yates was widowed in 1963. She died at a hospice in Concord, New Hampshire on July 29, 2001, at the age of 95.[8]
In 1970, she was given the
Sarah Josepha Hale Award "in recognition of a distinguished body of work in the field of literature and letters".[12]
In the 1990s, the New Hampshire Association for the Blind began the William and Elizabeth Yates McGreal Society.[13] Yates had been a previous President of the Board,[14] while her husband was the Association's first Executive Director.[13]
In 1994, the
Concord, New Hampshire Public Library created the Elizabeth Yates Award to honor an individual in the greater Concord area who is actively engaged in inspiring young people to read.[15][16]
Elizabeth Yates' books have been described as "the result of extensive research, a strong underlying belief in God, and a vivid imagination."[17][self-published source?][page needed]
^Yates, Elizabeth; Unwin, Nora S. (illustr.) (1968). With Pipe, Paddle and Song: A Story of the French-Canadian Voyageurs circa 1750. New York: E. P. Dutton. p. [end matter].{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)[third-party source needed]
^
abcdYates, Elizabeth and Sophia Smith Collection Staff (April 2008).
"Elizabeth Yates Papers, 1829-1964 [archive biosketch]". Northampton, MA: Five Colleges Archives & Manuscript Collections, Smith College, Sophia Smith Collection. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
Alberghene, Janice M. (1986). "Diary of a Dream: Triumph of the Creative Spirit of Elizabeth Yates". In Butler, Francelia; Rotert, Richard (eds.). Triumphs of the Spirit in Children's Literature location - Hamden, CT. Library Professional Publications.
Trudell PM, Margaret. Elizabeth Yates: A Biography and Bibliography of Her Works (Authorhouse, 2003)
External links
Elizabeth Yates at
Library of Congress, with 80+ library catalog records (mainly as 'Yates, Elizabeth, 1905–', previous page of browse report)