Baker, Ray Stannard

April 17, 1870 - July 12, 1946

Place of Birth: Lansing, MI

Biography:
Ray Stannard Baker was born to Joseph Stannard and Alice Baker in 1870.  He achieved a B.S. at Michigan State University in 1889 and briefly studied Law and Literature at the University of Michigan.  From 1892 to 1897 Baker was a reporter for the Chicago Daily Record, and then moved on to McClure Syndicate as manager in 1898.  It was at this publication that Baker earned the reputation of being a prominent “muckraker” along with Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens.  During this time Baker also published children stories for Youth’s Companion along with a nine volume series of stories about rural living in America under the pen name of David Grayson.  Troubled with the hard-hitting journalism in McClure, Baker left the magazine in 1906 to start his own publication called American Magazine.  In 1908 Baker became the first well-known journalist to examine America’s social divide by writing the book Following the Color Line, which enjoyed great success.  After supporting President Theodore Roosevelt, Baker experimented with socialism before supporting the candidacy of Woodrow Wilson in 1912.  The two men struck a close friendship and in 1918 Wilson sent Baker to Europe to study the war situation.  When it came to peace negotiations, Wilson appointed Baker as his press secretary at Versailles.  Baker published fifteen volumes about Wilson and internationalism, including an eight-volume biography on Wilson, the last two of which won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1940.  Baker died of heard attack in 1946 in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Selected Works:

     
• Seen in Germany (1901)
     
• Following the Color Line; an Account of Negro Citizenship in the American Democracy (1908)
     
• Adventures in Friendship (1910)
     
• Woodrow Wilson and World Settlement (1922)
     
• American Chronicle (1945)

Awards:

 
• Appleton’s Cyclopaedia of American Biography
 
• Contemporary American Literature
 
• Pulitzer Prize for Biography, for Woodrow Wilson: Life and Letters

Critical Reception:
Starting with his years as a muckraker, Baker became well known for his journalism and stories.  After working closely with Woodrow Wilson, Baker was placed in a position of trust and took over important responsibilities such as being press secretary at Versailles and editing the President’s papers.  Wilson once said, “I would rather have your [Baker’s] interpretation than that of anyone else I know.”

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Baker received his education in Michigan,

Balducci, Carolyn

Feb. 13, 1946     –

Place of Birth:  Pelham, NY

Place of Principal Residence:  Ann Arbor, MI

Biography:
Carolyn Feleppa Balducci was born in Pelham, NY to Ernest and Rosaria Feleppa.  She first got her interest in writing through art, being both an avid reader and an artist.  During her education at Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart in Purchase, NY she wavered between focusing on studio art and English.  In the end, she chose studio art, but her interest in writing lived on.  “As electives, I took a couple of creative writing courses,” Balducci said.  “My best marks were in The History of the English Language — go figure!”  After graduation Balducci taught Creative Writing at the University of Michigan.  She became interested in theater and started translating plays, as well as writing her own for university productions.  Years later Balducci felt the need to become more involved in her hometown, Montauk, and took up the job of program director for the Montauk library.  Her job included organizing local actors to do dramatic readings, a task that required catering plays to the interest of the community as well as using the talents of acting companies to their best advantage.  One of her translated plays, In Times of War by David Alan Moore, was performed by Stage Left in Chicago.  Balducci has written books, articles, poems, plays, and screenplays.  Currently she focuses her time on writing stage plays and screenplays.

Selected works:

       
• Margaret Fuller, A Life of Passion and Defiance (1991)
       
• A Self-Made Woman: the Life of Nobel Prize Winner Grazia Deledda (1975)
       
• Earwax (1972)
       
• Giovanni the Fearless (1971)

Awards:

 
• ALA Notable Book Award
 
• S.I.A.E. commendation for contributions to Italian theater in America
 
• Grants from Michigan Council for the Arts and Ohio Program in the Humanities
 
• American Library Association ‘Guest Editor’
 
• Mademoiselle Magazine ‘Who’s Who’

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
  Working at University of Michigan sparked an interest in Balducci to get involved in writing and translating dramatic works, an occupation she continues today.

Bloss, Joan

Dec. 9, 1928   –

Place of Birth: New York, NY

Place of Principle Residence: Ann Arbor, MI

Biography:
Joan Blos, a New York City native, was born on December 9, 1928 to Max (a psychiatrist) and Charlotte (teacher) Winsor, both of whom influenced her professional pursuits. Joan’s love for libraries was inherited from her parents, who took her on frequent trips to it and read out loud to her.  Joan attended Vassar College during 1946 – 1949 and got her B.A. in physiology, a decision she contributed to her father.  After graduation she worked as a college classroom assistant in a special nursery for disturbed by very young children.  It was there she discovered her love for teaching children.  Blos went for a year to New York City College to get a master’s degree in psychology, but did not complete the program.  Instead she became a doctoral candidate at Yale and also worked as a research assistant in Yale’s Child Study Center where she was employed in the pediatric play program where she interacted with child patients.  Blos later attributed this experience to sparking an interest in children’s literature. At Yale she also met her husband, Peter Blos.  Three years later she decided academic psychology wasn’t a good fit and moved back to New York City with her husband.  Blos reregistered for an M.A. at the City College of New York City and also worked part-time at the Bank Street College of Education, an organization focused on a progressive view of education, in the Publications division.  Here she began writing, reviewing, and teaching.  In 1970 Blos left New York City for Michigan.  She published her first book, “It’s Spring,” She Said and has since released a plethora of other books as well as a stage play. 

Selected Works:

     
• In the City (1964)
     
• Just Think (1971)
     
• A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal, 1830 – 1838 (1979)
     
• Martin’s Hats (1984)
     
• The Grandpa Days (1989)
     
• On Very Best Valentine’s Day (1989)
     
• Brooklyn Doesn’t Rhyme (1994)
     
• Hungry Little Boy (1995)
     
• Hello Shoes! (1999)

Awards:

• 1980 Newbery Medal for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal
• American Book Award (Children’s Fiction) for A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal
     
• 1987 Globe-Horn Book Honor Award for Old Henry
     
• Booklist Editor’s choice for Old Henry
     
• Honorary Doctorate from Bank Street College of Education in NYC

Critical Reception:
Blos’ novel A Gather of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal, 1830-32 received rave reviews.  Kirkus Reviews wrote the book was “carefully researched and convincingly delivered.”  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch commented that the “careful tuning of psychological nuances to historical elements…gives the story its powerful immediacy.  A Gathering of Days not only gives the reader a close look at the early 1800s, it offers… a deeply moving human experience.”  The Toronto Globe and Mail described Blos’ book Brothers of the Heart: A Story of the Old Northwest, 1837 – 1838 as “more powerful and more stirring than its award-winning predecessor.”  St. James Guide to Children’s Writers wrote Blos’ “language, with its rhythms and lilt of earlier times, is remarkably spare, not replete with full-blown descriptions, yet giving the reader a strong sense of place and characterization.  Blos has accomplished the fine feat of balancing history with universal human experience, uniting the book’s past with the reader’s present.  Brothers of the Heart was rewritten as a stage play in 1999.

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work: 
Living in Ann Arbor has allowed Blos to do local research for her books, most particularly Brothers of the Heart, where she drew inspiration for her setting, as well as spending time in the Ypsilanti Historical Society and the Bentley Library.  She is actively involved in the community publishing plays for theatrical companies such as Wild Swan Theater.  Today plenty of her time is reading in the Library of the University of Michigan and writing books. 

Brinkman, Michael W.

February 23, 1943 -

Place of Birth: Milwaukee, WI

Place of Principal Residence: Alpena, MI

Biography:

Michael W. Brinkman was born to John and Phyllis Brinkman in Milwaukee, WI on February 23, 1943. 
As soon as he earned his Bachelor’s degree at Indiana State University, Brinkman began teaching. He taught Latin at Dryer Center High School, taught at Merriville High School, taught psychology, world religion, and general business in Alpena public schools. Knowing and teaching Latin fostered his love for words and sentence structures; his interests in psychology and religion provided insight into the life of the mind. Poetry combined these two loves: words and introspection. He published several works (Poetry for Peoples and Verse Diverse) before furthering his own education, earning a Master’s degree from St. Mary’s College and a PhD from the University of Michigan. 
Though Brinkman transitioned from the world of teaching in 1972 to act as president of Brinkman Enterprises, his work with young people continued as he and his wife Lois raised their five daughters and one son.  He and Lois currently live in Alpena, MI.

Selected Works:

         
• Poetry for Peoples (1970)
         
• Verse Diverse (1973)
         
• In Pursuit of the Tuit (1976)

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Brinkman’s experience as a teacher has greatly influenced his writing.  It is evident from the titles of Brinkman’s work that he greatly enjoys his occupation. Books such as Poetry for Peoples, The Wordsmith, and My Own Busy Bee Book betray the author’s bent for poetry and instruction. He says, “I write poetry because I’m a poet, I am a lover—a lover of mankind in general and individuals specifically…I want my readers to disclose themselves first and foremost; to be honest with themselves…”

Carter, James L.

October 17, 1935—

Place of Birth: Marquette, MI

Place of Principal Residence: Marquette, MI

Biography:
James L. Carter was born to Cecille and Forest Carter in Marquette, MI on October 17, 1935.  In 1961 he earned his BA in History at Aquinas College, followed by his MA in 1967 at Northern Michigan University.  Between earning his BA and MA, Carter was a teacher at Sacred Heart School and Spring Lake Public Schools.  When he graduated from Northern, Carter took over the University’s position of Assistant Director of Research and Development.  Eight years later he became Director of the University Press until his retirement in 1996.  His experience in journalism goes back to graduate school, where he worked as a reporter for the Mining Journal in addition to his studies.  Carter’s first book, Grand Marais: Voyageurs’ Harbor was published in 1967, followed by other works including historical and book review articles for magazines and newspapers.  Currently, Carter devotes his time to editing books on Great Lakes history.  He and his wife, Nancy, live in Marquette, MI and have two children: Emily and Catherine.

Selected Works

• Grand Marais: Voyageurs’ Harbor (1967)
• The Grand Island Story (1974)
• The Story of Caribou Island, Lake Superior (2001)

Awards:

     

• 1978 Award of Merit, Historical Society of Michigan
     
• 1980 Superior-A State for the North Country
• 1991 Helen Longyear Paul Memorial Award, Marquette County Historical Society
• 1991 Charles Follo Award, Historical Society of Michigan
• 1996 Northern Michigan University Press Award
• 1997 Center for Native American Studies Humanitarian Award

Relevance of Place to Author’s Work:
Carter has devoted most of his life to researching and writing about the history of Michigan.  In addition to publishing many of his own books on the topic, Carter reviews works of those who do the same.

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