Carol Ryrie Brink (December 28, 1895 – August 15, 1981) was an American writer of over thirty juvenile and adult books. Her novel ''

Caddie Woodlawn ''Caddie Woodlawn'' is a children's historical fiction novel by Carol Ryrie Brink that received the Newbery Medal in 1936 and a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958. The original 1935 edition was illustrated by Newbery-award-winning author and il ...

'' won the 1936

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

and a

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" as ''Al ...

in 1958.

Lifetime

Caroline Sybil Ryrie born in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city and the county seat of Latah County, Idaho. Located in the North Central Idaho, North Central region of the state along the border with Washington (state), Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 United States ...

, the only child of Alexander and Henrietta (Watkins) Ryrie. Her father, an immigrant from Scotland, was the city's mayor (1895–97) and her mother was the daughter of prominent physician Dr. William W. Watkins, the first president of the state's medical association and a member of the board of regents of the new

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

. After Alex Ryrie died in 1900, Henrietta remarried, but after her father was murdered in 1901, her second marriage (to Elisha Nathaniel Brown) failed and she committed suicide in 1904 at age twenty-nine. Carol was then raised in Moscow by her widowed maternal grandmother, Caroline Woodhouse Watkins, the model for

. Her grandmother's life and storytelling abilities inspired Carol's writing from an early age. Brink started writing for her school newspapers and continued that in college; she graduated from the

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Academy in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and attended the

in Moscow for three years (1914–17). She wrote for ''The Argonaut'' student newspaper and ''Gem of the Mountains'' yearbook and was a member of

Gamma Phi Beta Gamma Phi Beta (, also known as GPhi, GPhiB, or Gamma Phi) is an international college sorority. It was founded in Syracuse University in 1874 and was the first of the Greek organizations to call itself a sorority. The main archive URL iThe Bair ...

sorority In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...

. She transferred to the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

for her senior year in 1917 and graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

in 1918, then on June 12 married Raymond W. Brink, a young mathematics professor she had met in Moscow nine years earlier. He had joined the faculty at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

a year prior and the couple made their home in

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

for 42 years. The Brinks raised a son (

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

) and a daughter (Nora), spent summers in the

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

backwoods, and traveled for several years in Scotland and France. Brink’s first novel, ''Anything Can Happen on the River'', was published in 1934. Brink wrote fiction throughout her life, and added poetry and painting to her later accomplishments. After 55 years of marriage, her husband died in 1973, and she died eight years later of heart failure at age 85 in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

. In her family, the name Caroline or Carol has been given as either a first or middle name to the oldest female child without interruption for at least seven generations, continuing to the present day.

Hometown honors

Brink was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Idaho in 1965. At the university is Brink Hall, a faculty office building which includes the English department. A classic ivy-covered brick structure, built in the 1930s to appear much older, it was originally the Willis Sweet dormitory and later the Faculty Office Complex East. Named for her shortly after her death, its companion west building was named for Archie Phinney. Across town in east Moscow is "Carol Ryrie Brink Nature Park," a stream restoration area alongside Paradise Creek on land owned by the

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

. Dedicated during the centennial celebration of Brink's birth in 1995, its west entrance is at Mountain View Road and 7th Street. At the city's north end, the children's section at the refurbished Carnegie building of the Moscow Public Library contains the "Carol Ryrie Brink Reading Room." Opened in 1906, Brink had frequented that library as a youth.

Works

Novels

*1934 ''

Anything Can Happen on the River Anything may refer to: Albums * ''Anything'' (The Cranberry Saw Us demo), by the band later named the Cranberries, 1990 * ''Anything'' (The Damned album) or the title song (see below), 1986 * ''Anything'' (Kinnie Starr album) or the title son ...

'' *1935 ''

'' *1936 '' Mademoiselle Misfortune'' *1937 '' Baby Island'' *1937 '' Goody O'Grumpity'' *1939 ''All Over Town'' *1939 '' Magical Melons'' (Note: Magical Melons is now published as "Caddie Woodlawn's Family.") *1941 '' Lad with a Whistle'' *1944 ''

Buffalo Coat A buffalo coat is a heavy winter garment made from the bison, which also commonly known as the "buffalo" (though not closely related to African or Asian buffaloes). In North America they descended from the simpler, sleeveless buffalo robes wor ...

'' *1945 ''

Narcissa Whitman Narcissa Prentiss Whitman (March 14, 1808 – November 29, 1847) was an American missionary in the Oregon Country of what would become the state of Washington. On their way to found the Protestant Whitman Mission in 1836 with her husband, Marc ...

'' *1945 ''Minty et Compagnie'' *1946 ''Lafayette'' *1947 ''Harps in the Wind'' *1951 ''Stopover'' *1952 ''Family Grandstand'' *1953 ''The Highly Trained Dogs of Professor Petit'' *1953 ''All I Desire'' *1955 ''The Headland'' *1956 ''Family Sabbatical'' *1959 ''The Pink Motel'' *1959 ''Strangers in the Forest'' *1961 ''The Twin Cities'' *1962 ''Chateau Saint Barnabe'' *1964 ''Snow in the River'' *1966 ''Andy Buckram's Tin Men'' *1968 ''Two Are Better Than One'' *1968 ''Winter Cottage'' *1972 ''The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein'' 'Irma's Big Lie''*1974 ''Louly'' *1976 ''The Bellini Look'' *1977 ''Four Girls on a Homestead''

Plays

*1928 ''The Cupboard Was Bare'' *1945 ''

References

External links

*
Carol Ryrie Brink PapersSpecial Collections
at the University of Southern Mississippi
de Grummond Children's Literature Collection)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brink, Carol Ryrie American children's writers American women novelists American people of Scottish descent Newbery Medal winners Novelists from Idaho University of Idaho alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Writers from Moscow, Idaho 1895 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American novelists American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers