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Born on September 17, 1909, Elizabeth Enright is well-remembered for her beautiful books about family life, including Gone-Away Lake, The Saturdays, and the 1939 Newbery Medal winner,Thimble Summer. Thimble Summer is set on a Wisconsin farm, which is where Ms. Enright spent many of her summers—with her uncle Frank Lloyd Wright on his Spring Green, Wisconsin farm.
Her mother was an artistic person as well. Maginel Wright Enright Barney was Frank Lloyd Wright’s sister and he encouraged her to draw and illustrate. She illustrated a plethora of magazine articles, as well as several of L. Frank Baum’s books written under his pseudonym, Laura Bancroft.
Elizabeth Enright lived in New York City as an adult. She studied at the Art Students League and in Paris, intending to follow in her mother’s footsteps as an illustrator. Exploring her memories of childhood inspired her to write, which eventually became her expression of choice. She reviewed books for The New York Times Book Review and taught creative writing at Barnard College. Ms. Enright died at her home on Long Island in 1968 and she is buried near Spring Green in Wisconsin.