Eleanor Coerr

Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, Eleanor Coerr attended the University of Saskatchewan but ultimately received her bachelor’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C., and then went on to earn a master’s degree in library science from the University of Maryland. She remained in America, teaching literature and writing at universities in California, and also working as a reporter and newspaper columnist. She was married to an American ambassador, and often travelled with him during his diplomatic trips to countries all over the world—including Japan. Coerr traveled to Japan for the first time in 1949 and found the country devastated by the violence of the Second World War. In the mid-1960s, on one of her trips to the Japanese archipelago, Coerr became compelled by the story of Sadako Sasaki and began writing her story. Over the course of her nearly five-decade career, Coerr wrote books for children such as Jane Goodall, Sam the Minuteman, and Meiko and the Fifth Treasure. She passed away in New York City in 2010, leaving behind a legacy of education and empathy and a collection of work that reflected her deep interest in the lives of remarkable girls and women all around the world.