Eleanor Coerr (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

Page; May 29, 1922 – November 22, 2010) was a Canadian-born American writer of

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

, including '' Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'' (historical fiction) and many

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

Biography

She was born in

Kamsack Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada is a town in the Assiniboine River Valley, where the Whitesand River joins the Assiniboine River. It is northeast of Yorkton. Highway 8 and Highway 5 intersect in the town. Coté First Nation is located nort ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

, Canada, and raised in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

. As a child, she liked to think up and read new stories. Through her best friend in high school, who was born to Japanese immigrants, Coerr developed an interest in calligraphy, Japanese food, and

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...

. She was exposed to Japanese scenery and told her friend that she wished to visit Japan one day, a request which Coerr fulfilled during the writing of ''Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes''. She attended the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, later transferring to the Kadel Airbrush School. She earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in English from American University, and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in library science from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

. After graduation, Coerr worked as a newspaper reporter and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, ...

of a children's column. She taught children's literature at

Monterey Peninsula College Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) is a public community college in Monterey, California. Established in 1947, it is a part of the California Community Colleges system. There are two additional MPC campuses located in Marina, CA, and Seaside, ...

and creative writing at Chapman College in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. She was married to the by then former 1962-1965 U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay, Wymberly DeRenne Coerr (1913–1996) from 1965 until his death from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 1996. He was a career diplomat, and she travelled with him to a number of countries, including foreign posts in Japan,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Coerr both wrote and illustrated her first book in 1945, although she did not begin to publish her work until the 1960s. Her later works included children's books, philanthropy, and giving lectures at American universities and overseas. After Wymberly's death, she became more reclusive and stayed at private residences in

Pebble Beach, California Pebble Beach is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, California. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a r ...

and

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Va ...

. She is perhaps best known for her book '' Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'', published in 1977. It told the story of

Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who became a victim of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. She was two years of age when the bombs were dropped and was severely irradiated. She survived for another ten years, becoming one o ...

, who was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

due to complications from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima when she was two years old. She is told that folding a thousand paper cranes will make her well. Coerr died on November 22, 2010 at the age of 88. Both she and Wymberly were cremated.

Books

* ''The Mystery of the Golden Cat'' (1968) "A New Children's Book by Eleanor Coerr". ''State Department News Letter'' (July 1868): 50. via Internet Archive * ''Twenty-five dragons'' (1971) * ''Biography of a Giant Panda'' (1974) * ''Biography of a Kangaroo'' (1976) * ''Jane Goodall'' (1976) * ''Waza Wins at Windy Gulch'' (1977) * '' Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'' (1977) * ''The mixed-up mystery smell'' (1980) * '' The Bell Ringer and the Pirates'' (1983) * ''The Big Balloon Race'' (1984) * ''Lady with a Torch: How the Statue of Liberty Was Born'' (1986) * ''Chang's Paper Pony'' (1993) * ''Sam the Minuteman'' (1995) * ''Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express'' (1996) * ''Sadako'' (1997) * ''Prairie School'' (2003) * ''Mieko and the Fifth Treasure'' (2003) * ''Josefina Story Quilt'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

: ''Josefina y la colcha de retazos'') (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coerr, Eleanor 1922 births 2010 deaths Canadian children's writers Canadian women children's writers Chapman University faculty Writers from Saskatchewan People from Kamsack, Saskatchewan American women children's writers American children's writers People from Pebble Beach, California People from Henderson, Nevada American women academics Canadian emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women