Gloria Joan Skurzynski (born July 6, 1930) is an American writer of books for young people, including both fiction and non-fiction.

Early life and education

Gloria Joan Flister Skurzynski was born in Duquesne,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in 1930 to Aylmer Kearney Flister and Serena Decker Flister. Her father worked at a steel mill, while her mother worked as a telegraph operator. She grew up during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. She was educated at Carlow University in 1948, which at that time was known as Mount Mercy College. She disliked school, however, and dropped out to work as a statistical clerk at the U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh from 1950 to 1952. She met Edward Joseph Skurzynski while working there, and they were married in December 1951. They went on to have five children, and later moved to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Skurzynski and her husband Edward currently reside in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

Career

Skurzynski is the author of more than sixty books written for young readers. She became friends with Phyllis McGinley, poet who won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1965. Through their correspondence, McGinley convinced Skurzynski to try professional writing. Skyrzynski's first professional writing attempt was rejected 58 times before her first publication made it into '' Teen Magazine.'' Skurzynski was also published in ''School and Library Journal'' magazines. It was reported that she was inspired by one of her daughter's poems in 1966 to become a free-lance writer. In 1979, she became a professional writer, and shifted her focus to children's novels. Four Winds Press published her first children's novel, ''What Happened in Hamelin?'' in 1979. She is also the author of ''The Tempering'' (1983) and '' Good-bye, Billy Radish'' (1992). In her writing, Skurzynski draws on her life experiences, including her father's stories and her own childhood in Pittsburgh. Many of her books include themes about national parks,

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

, and animals. Skurzynski is also the author of several non-fiction books. These include ''Bionic Parts for People: The Real Story of Artificial Organs and Replacement Parts'' which was published in 1978, and ''Are We Alone?: Scientists Search for Life in Space'' which was published in 2004. More recently, she collaborated with her daughter, Alane Ferguson to write a series of books for

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

called ''Mysteries in Our National Parks.'' To write these books, Skurzynski did most of the technical research on the subjects, while her daughter wrote the dialogue. Before becoming a professional writer, Skurzynski was involved with the

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

. She wrote a play for them to perform in 1964 entitled ''The Golden Chain''.

Awards

Skurzynski received an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children award from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in 1991. Later more of her books have received the same award. Her book ''Good-bye, Billy Radish'' was named the Best Book of the Year by the School Library Journal and was also awarded a Judy Lopez Memorial Book by the Women's National Book Association. In 2002, Skurzynski received two Golden Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America for ''Rockbuster''. She was also awarded a Science Writing Award from the American Institute of Physics, as well as a Golden Kite Award. She was also the recipient of a Christopher Award from the Western Writers of America.

Selected works

''Mysteries in Our National Parks''

''The Virtual War Chronologs''

*''Virtual War'' (1997) *''The Clones'' (2002) *''The Revolt'' (2005) *''The Choice'' (2006)

Others

References

External links

* *

Archival materials

The Gloria Skurzynski papers
at the University of Pittsburgh
Gloria Skurzynski papers, MSS 2330
at L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library,

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Gloria Skurzynski Papers, 2002-2010, MSS 304
at Special Collections and Archives, Boise State University {{DEFAULTSORT:Skurzynski, Gloria 1930 births Living people American children's writers American science writers Carlow University alumni Writers from Pittsburgh American women novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women children's writers American women science writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Pennsylvania American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers