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Carolyn See

Carolyn See
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Born Caroline Laws
(1934-01-13)January 13, 1934
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Died July 13, 2016(2016-07-13) (aged 82)
Santa Monica, California
Occupation Novelist, Professor, Critic
Spouses Richard See, Tom Sturak
Children Lisa See, Clara Sturak

Carolyn See (born Caroline Laws; January 13, 1934 – July 13, 2016) was a professor emerita of English at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of ten books, including the memoir, Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America, an advice book on writing, Making a Literary Life, and the novels There Will Never Be Another You, Golden Days, and The Handyman. See was also a book critic for the Washington Post for 27 years.

See was born in Pasadena, California to Kate Louise Sullivan Daly and George Laws in 1934 . See's father was a would-be novelist and sometimes journalist who told her to read the Horatio Hornblower books when she was eight so that she wouldn't later get stuck in the nautical details of Moby Dick. She spent her early years in Eagle Rock, California. Her father left when she was eleven and she was raised by her mother whom See described as a mean alcoholic. Carolyn had a younger sister Maureen who was 15 years younger who struggled with addiction and eventually died from the use of heroin.

At the age of 16, Carolyn went to live with her father and his new wife in Los Angeles.

See earned her associate degree from Los Angeles City College. During her second year at City college she married Richard See and moved with him to Newfoundland where he was mustered for the Korean War. When they returned to L.A. See attended and earned her M.A. from California State University, Los Angeles and gave birth to her first daughter, Lisa See. See won the Samuel Goldwyn Creative Writing Contest in 1958 for her unpublished novel The Waiting Game and used the two hundred and fifty dollar prize money to pay for her divorce from Richard See. After her divorce, See married Tom Sturak and had her second daughter Clara Sturak. See later finished her doctorate at UCLA and her dissertation was on the Hollywood novel.

In the late 1960s See began writing articles for the Los Angeles Times and celebrity profiles for TV Guide. At this time See worked out her writing habit—one thousand words a day on white unlined paper in felt pens. While writing non-fiction articles and reviews, See was approached by Little, Brown editor Harry Sions who encouraged her to write a novel which became The Rest is Done with Mirrors.


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