December 16 Writer Birthdays
December 16 Writer Birthdays
- 1775 - Jane Austen, English novelist of fiction set among Britain's landed gentry.
- 1787 - Mary Russell Mitford, English author and dramatist best known for "Our Village," a series of sketches of village scenes and vividly drawn characters based upon life in Three Mile Cross, a hamlet near Reading in Berkshire, where she lived.
- 1863 - George Santayana (pseudonym of Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás), Spanish-American writer known for pithy quotations.
- 1865 - Olavo Brás Martins dos Guimarães Bilac, Brazilian Parnassian poet, journalist, and translator, best known for writing the lyrics to the Brazilian Flag Anthem.
- 1867 - Amy Wilson Carmichael, Irish-born Christian missionary who wrote many books about her experiences running a mission in India.
- 1895 - Marie Hall Ets, Caldecott Medal-winning American children's book writer and illustrator.
- 1899 - Noel Coward, influential Tony Award-winning British playwright, composer, actor, and director known for his wit and flamboyant style; he was knighted in 1969.
- 1900 - Victor Sawdon (V.S.) Pritchett, British short-story writer, memoirist, essayist, literary biographer, and critic.
- 1901 - Margaret Mead, influential and sometimes controversial American anthropologist and writer.
- 1917 - Arthur C. Clarke, Sri-Lankan-based British science-fiction writer, essayist, screenwriter, futurist, and undersea explorer whose fictional creations sometimes led to real-world science; he won multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, and in 2000 was knighted in 2000. Along with Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, he is considered one of "The Big Three" of science fiction literature.
- 1924 - Nicolas Sidjakov, Caldecott Medal-winning Latvian-born American illustrator best known for his work on Baboushka and the Three Kings.
- 1925 - Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, award-winning Filipino fiction writer, essayist, and journalist; some of her work was published under the pseudonym Patricia S. Torres.
- 1928 - Philip K. Dick, Hugo Award-winning American science fiction novelist, short-story writer, and essayist known for his dystopian futures and explorations of philosophy and theology in his work; his most celebrated novel is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Many of his books and stories have been made into movies.
- 1930 - Bill Brittain, Newbery Honor-winning American author best known for his writings of the fictional New England town on Coven Tree.
- 1938 - Frank Deford (Benjamin Franklin Deford III), American sportswriter and author.
- 1941 - Lesley Stahl, American television journalist and author, best known for her work on CBS's 60 Minutes.
- 1947 - Trevor Zahra, award-winning Maltese writer of more than 130 books for children and adults, including adventure stories, poetry, folktales, novels, short stories, folktales, workbooks, and translations.
- 1952 - Susan Estrich, American author, journalist, professor, lawyer, political commentator, and feminist advocate; several of her books discuss her experiences as a survivor of rape.
- 1956 - E.B. Lewis, two-time Caldecott Medal-winning American illustrator of children's books.
