Betty Baker

Last updated
Betty Lou Baker
Born(1928-06-20)June 20, 1928
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 6, 1987(1987-11-06) (aged 59)
Tucson, Arizona
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Genre historical fiction, young adult literature
Years active1962–1984
Notable awards Western Heritage Award (1964, 1971), Spur Award (1968)

Betty Lou Baker (1928-1987) was an American writer of young adult literature, who specialized in historical novels about the Southwestern United States. "The best of her books display a remarkable sensitivity to and appreciation of Native peoples and cultures". [1]

Contents

Life

Betty Lou Baker was born in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 1928, the daughter of Robert Weidler Baker and Mary Baker, née Wentling. She attended school in Orange, New Jersey. In 1947 she married Robert George Venturo. [2]

Baker wrote her first novel, Little Runner of the Longhouse (1962), for her son, Christopher, [1] inspired by a boring school history book to try to write something more engaging. [2]

Baker and Venturo divorced in 1965. She continued to write, training herself to write at least five thousand words a day. [2]

Baker won the Western Heritage Award in 1964 and 1971, and the Spur Award of the Western Writers of America in 1968. [1]

She died November 6, 1987, in Tucson, Arizona. [2] Her papers are held by UCLA Special Collections. [3]

Works

Novels
Non-fiction

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Thomas J. Morrissey (1996). "Betty Lou Baker (1928-1987)". In M. Daphne Kutzer; Emmanuel Sampath Nelson (eds.). Writers of Multicultural Fiction for Young Adults: A Bio-critical Sourcebook. Greenwood Press. pp. 29–36. ISBN   978-0-313-29331-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Betty Baker". Pennsylvania Center for the Book. 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  3. "Finding Aid for the Betty Baker Papers, 1962-1969". OInline Archive of California. Retrieved 19 February 2021.