Jean Craighead George Biography

Julie of the Wolves About the Author

Jean Craighead George was born on July 2, 1919, in Washington, D.C., into a family whose consuming interest was nature. Both of her parents, Dr.

Frank C. and Carolyn Johnson Craighead, were entomologists, or insect specialists, and a succession of wild birds and animals shared the family home over the years. The family often spent summers on their farm in Pennsylvania or on field trips. Twin brothers, Frank and John, grew up to become ecologists, while George herself became an author, illustrator, and naturalist— although she did not settle into her career immediately.

George studied both natural science and English at Penn State University, the latter under the noted American poet Theodore Roethke. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1941, she departed for Louisiana State University to study modern dance. With the United States' entry into World War II, however, George put aside her dancing ambitions and became a reporter. Since then, writing has been the foundation of her career, and environmental subjects her frequent focus. Her journalistic assignments, particularly those she took on as roving reporter for Reader's Digest—a position she held for many years—often provided material for subsequent children's books.

In 1944 she married John L. George, 'an ecologist. Together they wrote six well-researched children's books on natural history and raised three children—Twig, Craig, and Luke. The marriage ended in divorce in 1963.

George has written close to fifty books for children and young adults over...
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