Francine Pascal
| Francine Pascal | |
|---|---|
| Born | Francine Rubin May 13, 1938 |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Genre | Teen and young-adult fiction, oriented mainly to female readers |
| Notable works | Sweet Valley High |
| Spouse |
John Pascal (1932-1981) |
| Relatives | Michael Stewart |
Francine Pascal (née Rubin, born May 13, 1938) is an American author best known for creating the Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High was the backbone of the collection, and was made into a popular television series. There were also several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles have been re-released in recent years.
Francine Rubin was born in Manhattan, New York and raised in Queens, New York, United States. Her father was an auctioneer. In 1958, she graduated from New York University. It was there that she first met author and journalist John Pascal and, in 1965, they were married. Francine often credited John as her writing mentor, and they collaborated on several projects, including writing scripts for the ABC soap opera The Young Marrieds, which aired from 1964 to 1966 as part of the ABC Daytime block. John died of lung cancer in 1981, at 49 years of age.
Francine's brother was the prolific Broadway playwright and librettist Michael Stewart, who wrote the books to such musical hits as Bye Bye Birdie and Hello, Dolly! Francine, her husband John, and her brother Michael worked together writing the book to the Broadway musical George M!, which ran at the Palace Theatre from 1968 to 1970. A television version of George M! was aired on NBC in 1970. Following her brother's death in 1987, Ms. Pascal revised his musical Mack & Mabel. She also worked on the revision of another of his musicals, Carnival!, for the Kennedy Center in Washington.
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