Ellen Douglas was the pen name of Josephine Ayres Haxton, who was born in Natchez, Mississippi on July 12, 1921. She graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1942. During her lifetime, she wrote eleven books, including six novels and several collections of short stories and essays. Her novels include Apostles of Light, The Rock Cried Out, A Family's Affairs, A Lifetime Burning, and Can't Quit You, Baby. She won a lifetime achievement award in 2008 from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. She died after an extended illness on November 7, 2012 at the age of 91.