Ruth Sawyer
| Ruth Sawyer | |
|---|---|
Sawyer
|
|
| Born | August 5, 1880 Boston, Massachusetts, USA |
| Died | June 3, 1970 Maine, USA |
| Occupation | Storyteller, teacher, writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.S., Columbia University |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards |
Newbery Medal 1937 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award 1965 |
| Spouse | Albert C. Durand (m. 1911) |
Ruth Sawyer (August 5, 1880 – June 3, 1970), was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1965 for her lifetime achievement in children's literature.
Ruth Sawyer, the youngest of five children, was the only daughter of Francis Milton and Ethalinda Smith Sawyer. Sawyer was born on August 5, 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts. While she was still a baby they moved to New York City where she attended private school. The product of a wealthy family, Sawyer had an Irish nanny named Joanna, who inspired her love and appreciation of storytelling. Upon the death of her father, a New York City importer, the family moved to their summer cottage in Maine. There they lived off the land, an experience that Sawyer later described in her novel, The Year of Jubilo. Eventually the family returned to New York and Sawyer attended the Garland Kindergarten Training School for two years.
In 1900 Sawyer left Garland and traveled to Cuba. There she taught storytelling to teachers who were opening kindergartens for children orphaned during the Spanish–American War. After returning to the United States, her work in Cuba helped her obtain a scholarship to Columbia University where she studied storytelling and folk lore. She received her BS in education from Columbia in 1904. She then went to work for the New York school system, telling stories to people born overseas. In 1910 she started the first storytelling program for children for the New York Public Library.
Sawyer also wrote articles for The New York Sun, which twice sent her to Ireland to study. While overseas on those and other trips she collected folk tales and continued learning the art of storytelling, eventually becoming well known for her folk tale collections and storytelling prowess. Her life experiences frequently gave Sawyer ideas for her books, and she spent her life collecting and telling folk tales and stories. At least one biographer pointed out the parallel between Sawyer and the Brothers Grimm.
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