Anne George
Anne George, born Anne Carroll Bell on December 4, 1927, in Montgomery, Alabama, was a prominent American author and poet known for her contributions to literature, particularly in the mystery genre. Raised by her grandparents after her parents' separation, she developed a passion for detective stories early in her life. George pursued higher education, earning a B.A. from Samford University and later an M.A. from the University of Alabama, where she focused on the works of renowned author Eudora Welty.
In the late 1970s, she co-founded Druid Press, which published her first novels and poetry collections, including works that received critical acclaim, such as her second poetry volume nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. George is perhaps best known for her Southern Sisters cozy mystery series, starting with "Murder on a Girls' Night Out," which features the humorous and contrasting dynamics between two sisters as they solve crimes in Birmingham. Her writing is celebrated for its character development, witty dialogue, and engaging portrayals of Southern life. George's career spanned several decades, culminating in a posthumous recognition for her extensive literary contributions before her passing on March 14, 2001.
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Anne George
Poet
- Born: December 4, 1927
- Birthplace: Montgomery, Alabama
- Died: May 14, 2001
- Place of death: Alabama
Biography
Anne George was born Anne Carroll Bell on December 4, 1927, in Montgomery, Alabama, and lived virtually her entire life within that state. Her parents separated not long after her birth, and her grandparents raised her in Calhoun and Lowndes counties, where she became an early fan of detective magazines. George attended Judson College but transferred to Samford University, graduating with a B.A. in English and Spanish in 1949. She earned her M.A. in English and education from the University of Alabama in 1971; her thesis analyzed the writings of Mississippi author Eudora Welty. A decade later, she was halfway through a doctorate in English when she decided she would rather write than merely read the work of others.
She married Earl George in the early 1950’s and the couple moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where she gave birth to a daughter. For more than twenty years, she taught English in local high schools and junior high schools while contributing stories and poems to literary publications. In the late 1970’s, while taking writing classes at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, George and a friend, Jerri Beck, cofounded Druid Press.
Their company published George’s first novels, Dreamer, Dreaming Me and Wild Goose Chase, and a collection of her poetry, Spraying Under the Bed for Wolves. Druid Press also produced a well-received anthology, A Baker’s Dozen: Contemporary Women Poets of Alabama, which George and Beck edited. George’s second volume of poetry, Some of It Is True, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and she was named State Poet and Alabama Poet of the Year in 1994. Druid Press was sold in the mid-1990’s when George left teaching to write full-time.
In 1996, George published Murder on a Girls’ Night Out, the first entry in the Southern Sisters humorous cozy mystery series, featuring sixty-something siblings Patricia Anne Hollowell and Mary Alice Crane as amateur sleuths. The two women are studies in contrasts. Retired schoolteacher Patricia is slender and petite, while nightclub owner Mary Alice is six feet tall and weighs 250 pounds; Patricia has been happily married to the same man for forty years, but Mary Alice has been married to and widowed from three wealthy older men. Together, the two sisters work to solve crimes that primarily occur in the Birmingham area.
Though Murder on a Girls’ Night Out won the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery and spawned seven more entries, the Southern Sisters books are acclaimed more as character studies than as crime novels. Noted for their dialogue, well-drawn protagonists, and outlandish situations, the books often sacrifice plausible plots in order to put the eccentric sisters through their paces.
George published an acclaimed novel, This One and Magic Life: A Novel of a Southern Family, and closed out her career with The Map That Lies Between Us: New and Collected Poems, 1980-2000, which was named Book of the Year by the Alabama State Poets’ Society. George died on March 14, 2001, during cardiac surgery.