Elwyn Brooks White was born on July 11, 1899, in Mt. Vernon, New York. After graduating from Cornell University, he worked briefly for an advertising agency and as a newspaper reporter before joining the staff of The New Yorker magazine in 1927. As a columnist for The New Yorker and a contributor to Harper's Magazine, White established a reputation as a prose stylist of exceptional elegance, clarity and wit. His interests, as reflected in his writing, were numerous and varied; his essays touched on such wide-ranging subjects as politics, farm animals, and life in New York City. White married Katharine S. Angell in 1929. They had one son, and in 1957 the family left New York for a farm in… North Brookline, Maine. Writings from The New Yorker, 1927-1976 is a compilation of columns and essays produced during White's long relationship with the magazine. One Man's Meat, published in 1942, is a collection of his writings for Harper's. White adapted a short guide to English grammar and usage, The Elements of Style, from a college text written by one of his professors at Cornell, William Strunk Jr. It has sold millions of copies since it was first published in 1959 and has become a cherished resource for guidance in writing. White also co-authored Is Sex Necessary? with the humorist James Thurber, a fellow staff member at The New Yorker. E.B. White died on October 1, 1985 after succumbing to Alzheimer's. His diverse legacy also includes three children's books: Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan. In 1970 the American Library Association presented White the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in recognition of his "substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." He was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 and received a special Pulitzer Prize citation for his body of work in 1970.
Kate DiCamillo was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on March 25, 1964. She is a Newbery Award-winning children's author. As a child, DiCamillo suffered from chronic pneumonia. At the age of five, DiCamillo along with her mother and brother, moved to the small-town of Clermont, Florida for the warmer climate due to her health. DiCamillo graduated from the University of Florida with a minor in English. At the age of thirty, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and worked for a book warehouse on the children's floor. Working there for four and a half years, she fell in love with children's books and began writing. DiCamillo wrote the 2001 Newbery-honor book, Because of Winn-Dixie, which was a… product of her homesickness for Florida and her desire to own a dog. In 2005, Because of Winn-Dixie was released as a film by 20th Century Fox. In 2004, DiCamillo won the Newbery Medal for her book, The Tale of Despereaux. This book was also made into a movie and released by Universal Pictures in December 2008. DiCamillo continues to write and currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.