Liesel Moak Skorpen was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-born children's author. Skorpen moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at a young age. Her works include '' Old Arthur'', '' We Were Tired of Living In a House'', '' His Mother's Dog'', ''Elizabeth'' and '' Outside My Window''. Her illustrator for ''Old Arthur'' was

Wallace Tripp Wallace Whitney Tripp (June 26, 1940 – September 9, 2018) was an American illustrator, anthologist and author. He was known for creating anthropomorphic animal characters of emotional complexity and for his great visual and verbal humor. He wa ...

. Born in Germany, to Walter and Elizabeth Moak, she came to the US with her family, was raised and educated in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. Liesel graduated from

Wells College Wells College was a private liberal arts college in Aurora, New York, a village in the Finger Lakes region of the state. From its founding in 1868 until it became coeducational in 2005, Wells was a women's college. The college maintained acad ...

, Aurora, New York, and went on to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

where, while studying philosophy, she met a scholar named Erling Skorpen. When he completed his Ph.D. in philosophy, they wed and moved to

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

to start their family. Together, Liesel and Erling built a family of seven children, two of whom they adopted, one from

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and the other off an

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

. After suffering the loss of a young son, Per Anders, they moved to

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

- See more at: http://obituaries.bangordailynews.com/obituaries/bdnmaine/obituary.aspx?pid=164727431#fbLoggedOut

Selected bibliography

*''Outside My Window'' (

Coward-McCann G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York (state), New York. Since 1996, it has been an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 part ...

, 1968) (illustrated by

Mercer Mayer Mercer Mayer (born December 30, 1943) is an American children's author and illustrator. He has published over 300 books, using a wide range of illustrative styles. Mayer is best known for his '' Little Critter'' and '' Little Monster'' series o ...

) (for the 2004 reprint) *''That Mean Man'' (

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...

, 1968) (illustrated by Emily McCully) *''We Were Tired of Living in a House'' (Coward-McCann, 1969 version illustrated by Doris Burn , hardcover by Purple House Press in 2021 with Doris Burn's illustrations , and reprinted by Putnam in 1999 with illustrations by Joe Cepeda, ) *''Elizabeth'' (Harper & Row, 1970) (illustrated by Martha G. Alexander) *''All the Lassies'' (

Dial Press The Dial Press is a publishing house founded in 1923 by Lincoln MacVeagh. The Dial Press shared a building with ''The Dial'' and Scofield Thayer worked with both. The first imprint was issued in 1924. Authors included Elizabeth Bowen, W. R. Bur ...

, 1970)(illustrated by Bruce M. Scott) *''Charles'' (Harper & Row, 1971) (illustrated by Martha G. Alexander) *''Plenty For Three'' (Coward-McCann, 1971) (illustrated by Margot Tomes) *''Old Arthur'' (

World's Work ''The World's Work'' (1900–1932) was a monthly magazine that covered national affairs from a pro-business point of view. It was produced by the publishing house Doubleday, Page and Company, which provided the first editor, Walter Hines Page. ...

, 1973) (illustrated by

) *''Mandy's Grandmother'' (

, 1975) (illustrated by Martha G. Alexander) *''Michael'' (Harper & Row, 1975)(illustrated by Joan Sandin) *''Bird'' (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 1976) (illustrated by Joan Sandin) *''His Mother's Dog'' (Harper & Row, 1978) (illustrated by Mary Ellen Mullin)

References

Resources

Author biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skorpen, Liesel Moak American children's writers Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Wells College alumni Yale University alumni 1935 births 2013 deaths