Stolz, Mary 1920-2006

(Mary Slattery Stolz)

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born March 24, 1920, in Boston, MA; died December 15, 2006, in Longboat Key, FL. Author. Stolz was an award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Educated at Columbia University Teacher’s College and the Katharine Gibbs School in the 1930s, she first worked as a secretary at Columbia University. Stolz, unfortunately, suffered from arthritis at an early age. During one severe bout with the ailment, she decided to work on her first book. This was released in 1950 as To Tell Your Love. Many more works of fiction would follow, and Stolz developed a reputation for writing novels that appealed to young girls. Her stories were frequently on American Library Association notable book lists, and several titles were award winners. Her In a Mirror (1953), for example, won the Children’s Book Award from Bank Street College; she was a National Book Award finalist for The Edge of Next Year (1974), and her Belling the Tiger (1961) and The Noonday Friends (1965) were both Newbery Honor books. Praised for her strong characterizations of teenagers facing troubles in love and with family, Stolz penned such other memorable young adult titles as Leap before You Look (1972), Go and Catch a Flying Fish (1979), and Coco Grimes (1994). Her titles for younger children include favorites like Emmett’s Pig (1959), The Bully of Barkham Street (1963), and Bartholomew Fair (1990).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, January 23, 2007, Section 2, p. 10. New York Times, January 22, 2007, p. A18.