Terry "Tuff" Ryan (July 14, 1946 – May 16, 2007) was an American

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

, originally from

Defiance, Ohio Defiance is a city in Defiance County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 17,066 at the 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee rivers about southwest of Toledo and northeast of For ...

, who resided in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

for most of her adult life. She was best known for her memoir ''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'', published in 2001, and subsequent

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

released in 2005. She was born to Leo (nicknamed Kelly) and

Evelyn Ryan Evelyn Ryan was an Ohio poet and jingle and slogan writer. A 2005 movie, ''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'', was made about her life. Early life and education Evelyn Lehman Ryan was born in Sherwood, Ohio, to Orren and Minnie Lehman; Min ...

, and was the sixth of 10 children. ''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' was a memoir of her life and that of her family, especially her mother, a 1950s

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...

with 10 children who provided for the family by winning contests.Ryan, Terry (2001). ''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How my mother raised 10 kids on 25 words or less''. Simon & Schuster Inc. The book was optioned by DreamWorks SKG and released as a theatrical film in November 2005. It starred

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...

as Evelyn Ryan and

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...

as Kelly Ryan.

Jane Anderson Jane Anderson is an American playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and actress. She wrote and directed the feature film '' The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' (2005), and wrote the film '' It Could Happen to You'' (1994), starring Nicolas Cage. ...

was director and screenwriter. Terry Ryan was a consultant on the film. With artist Sylvia Mollick, Ryan was also the co-creator of the long-running cartoon ''

T. O. Sylvester ''T.O. Sylvester'' was a comic strip featured in the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' from 1983 to 1999. "T.O. Sylvester" was also the shared pseudonym of the strip's creative team, Sylvia Mollick and Terry Ryan (writer), Terry Ryan. Sylvester's work w ...

'' in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

''. She was married to her long-time partner, Pat Holt, by

mayor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

St Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a martyr named Valentine, and through later folk traditions it ha ...

2004. Her account of her wedding, titled ''We Do!'', was published by

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco–based American publishing company that publishes books for both adults and children. History The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publish ...

. She graduated from

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

. In 2004, after the film was filmed, Terry learned that she had Stage IV

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

that had

metastasized Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spreading from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, ...

to her brain. On May 16, 2007, Terry died of cancer at her San Francisco, California home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Terry 1946 births 2007 deaths Bowling Green State University alumni American LGBTQ writers LGBTQ people from Ohio LGBTQ people from California People from Defiance, Ohio Writers from San Francisco American female comics writers Deaths from lung cancer in California 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American women writers American women biographers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women Memoirists from Ohio Memoirists from California