Lyon, Elinor 1921-2008 (Elinor Bruce Lyon, Elinor Wright)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for SATA sketch: Born August 17, 1921, in Guisborough, Yorkshire, England; died May 28, 2008. Children's author and illustrator. Lyon wrote twenty children's books, beginning in 1976, illustrating more than half of them with her own pen-and-ink drawings and watercolors. The books revolve around traditional middle-class themes of friendship, innocence, and honesty. They are stories of British youngsters pursuing their harmless adventures throughout the countryside of Wales and Scotland. Almost half of the novels feature the Scottish brother-sister team of Ian and Sovra. These stories enabled the author to reflect on her own Scottish ancestry and to offer young readers a peek at the Scottish highlands through landscape, history, and legend. The books were praised for their realism. The adventures were episodes that could happen to ordinary children who were observant and curious enough to uncover secrets and follow their instincts, but they were not without a certain amount of suspense. Lyon ceased writing in the mid-1970s and her books lay dormant for decades. In her later years, however, Lyon was able to see her books in print again, as a new generation discovered treasures such as The House in Hiding (1950; 2006). Other books that were popular in their day include Wishing Water-Gate (1949; 1976), Daughters of Aradale (1957; 1974), Strangers at the Door (1967), and The Floodmakers (1976).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Times (London, England), June 14, 2008, p. 86.