Fox, Paula (1923–)
Fox, Paula (1923–)
American writer. Born April 22, 1923 in New York, NY; dau. of Paul Harvey Fox (novelist and screenwriter) and Elsie Fox; attended Columbia University; m. Howard Bird (merchant seaman and part-time actor), 1940 (div.); m. Richard Sigerson, 1948 (div.); m. Martin Greenberg (translator and editor), 1962; children: Linda (mother of rock star Courtney Love), Adam (environmental consultant) and Gabriel (zookeeper).
Award-winning fiction writer for children and adults, began career as model, reader for 20th Century-Fox and stringer for small British news service; taught at private schools and a center for delinquents; at 43, published 1st novel, Poor George (1967), followed by Desperate Characters (1970); won National Book Award for children's book, A Place Apart (1980); won Hans Christian Andersen Medal (1978), Newbery Honors for The Slave Dancer (1973) and One-Eyed Cat (1984), and the Empire State Medal for children's books (1994); also wrote the novels The Western Coast (1972), The Widow's Children (1976), A Servant's Tale (1984), The God of Nightmares (1990); other children's books include Maurice's Room (1966), Dear Prosper (1968), The Stone-Faced Boy (1968), The King's Falcon (1969), Blowfish Live in the Sea (1970), The Little Swineherd and Other Tales (1976), Monkey Island (1991), Western Wind (1993) and The Eagle Kite (1995).
See also memoir, Borrowed Finery (Harper Collins, 2003).