Mary Nash (July 7, 1924 – September 16, 2020) was a 20th-century American writer. She wrote the '' Mrs. Coverlet'' trilogy of children’s books, as well as a book about actress

Susannah Maria Cibber Susannah Maria Cibber (née Arne; February 1714 – 30 January 1766) was a celebrated English singer and actress. She was the sister of the composer Thomas Arne. Although she began her career as a soprano, her voice lowered in the early part of h ...

Family life and education

Nash grew up in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, attended

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

and earned a master's degree in creative writing from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. She married a physician, Harry Nash, and they reared three children in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The children were named Norman, Holly and Tom; Tom, who was called "Toad" as a child, inspired the character in the Coverlet books.

Career

Nash began writing children's books after reading a number of disappointing ones to her own children. Nash taught creative writing at the

Radcliffe Institute The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...

. Nash was "celebrated" for her children's trilogy ''While Mrs Coverlet Was Away'' (1958), ''Mrs. Coverlet's Magicians'' (1960), and ''Mrs Coverlet's Detectives''. Nash's book ''The Provoked Wife: the life and times of Susannah Cibber'' (1977) was an account of the life of the 18th-century actress

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, Mary American women writers 1924 births 2020 deaths Radcliffe College alumni University of Washington alumni 21st-century American women