Carol Elizabeth Fenner
Carol Elizabeth Fenner (1929-2002) was an American author renowned for her contributions to children's literature. Born in North Hornell, New York, she grew up in various towns in New York and Connecticut, where her early experiences shaped her creative pursuits. Fenner began writing poems as a child and later wrote plays that her siblings performed. After graduating high school, she moved to New York City to study acting and dance, immersing herself in the arts before transitioning to writing children's books.
Her storytelling drew inspiration from her travels and personal experiences, including a notable trip to Japan, which influenced her story about gorillas. Throughout her career, Fenner received critical acclaim for her authentic dialogue and empathetic characters, resulting in several prestigious awards, including a Newbery Honor for her novel "Yolanda's Genius." She illustrated many of her works and published stories in various magazines. Fenner's legacy includes a lasting impact on children's literature, with her books continuing to resonate with readers for their humor and depth.
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Carol Elizabeth Fenner
- Born: September 30, 1929
- Birthplace: Almond, New York
- Died: February 16, 2000
- Place of death: Battle Creek, Michigan
Biography
Carol Elizabeth Fenner was born on September 30, 1929, in the Bethesda Hospital at North Hornell, New York, to Andrew Jackson Fenner II and Esther Rowe Fenner. She first lived in Canaseraga, New York, her mother’s hometown, and then in Almond, New York, her father’s hometown, where her grandfather owned a store. Her family lived above the store and her father, a former professional baseball pitcher, worked there.
As a young child, Fenner created poems, telling them to her mother before she learned to write. When Fenner was seven, her family relocated to her aunts’ home in Shelton, Connecticut, while her father completed business courses. Fenner attended school in nearby Huntington. When her father secured a bookkeeping position, Fenner’s family moved to Brooklyn, New York, before her ninth birthday. Here, she wrote plays her siblings and friends staged in the family’s basement. Fenner attended James Madison High School, where her English teacher encouraged her writing. Fenner wrote novels for fun.
Fenner’s family returned to Almond prior to her sixteenth birthday and later graduated from Alfred-Almond Central High School. Fenner then assisted a local first-grade teacher, telling stories to reluctant readers and drawing school scenes. Fenner moved to New York City in 1950, where for several years she studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio and dancing with the New Dance Group while living in Greenwich Village. She performed in off-Broadway and summer stock productions and on television.
On July 3, 1965, Fenner married Jiles (Jay) B. Williams, a captain in the U.S. Air Force. They lived for two years in the Philippines, and then in Rome, New York. Fenner’s husband encouraged her to attend music festivals, particularly featuring blues and jazz performers. She moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1968. Fenner belonged to the Michigan Council for the Arts Literature Panel from 1976 to 1979. Diagnosed with cancer, Fenner died on February 16, 2002, at Battle Creek, Michigan.
Fenner chose to write her children’s books about subjects which intrigued her. She traveled to Japan in the late 1960’s, where a visit to Tokyo’s Ueno Park Zoo resulted in a story about the gorillas living there. Other incidents in her life inspired characters and plots. Fenner illustrated the picture books she wrote. She also published stories in Cricket magazine and in an adult fiction anthology.
Reviewers praised both Fenner’s writing and art, noting her skill creating authentic dialogue, humor, and empathy for her characters. Fenner received funding for her work from a 1982 Michigan Council for the Arts grant for literature. Children’s Television International released a filmed version of her novel The Skates of Uncle Richard on a videocassette released in 1979.
In 1963, the American Library Association (ALA) named Fenner’s debut book, Tigers in the Cellar, a notable book. Gorilla, Gorilla won the 1973 Christopher Medal; in 1979, The Skates of Uncle Richard was a runner-up for the Coretta Scott King Freedom Award. The Maryland International Reading Association gave Fenner’s book Randall’s Wall its Maryland Children’s Choice Book Award, and the ALA designated her novel Yolanda’s Genius a Newbery Honor Book in 1996.