Ester Wier
Ester Wier was a children's author known for her engaging novels set in the American West and the Florida Everglades. Born in 1910 in Seattle, Washington, she began writing poetry in her youth but only pursued a full-time writing career later in life, starting in her fifties. Wier's stories often featured young male protagonists embarking on adventurous journeys, guided by wise mentors, and reflected her deep appreciation for nature and environmental conservation. After marrying Navy lieutenant Henry Robert Wier in 1934 and relocating frequently due to military assignments, she initially wrote manuals for military wives before transitioning to children's literature. Her most notable work, "The Loner," published in 1963, received a Newbery Honor and was later adapted into a Disney television movie. Over her career, Wier authored a total of fifteen books for young readers, with many drawing from her rich life experiences and observations. Wier passed away in 2000, leaving behind a legacy of literature that continues to resonate with themes of mentorship and connection to the natural world.
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Subject Terms
Ester Wier
Writer
- Born: October 17, 1910
- Birthplace: Seattle, Washington
- Died: January 6, 2000
- Place of death: Lexington, South Carolina
Biography
Although children’s author Ester Wier began writing and publishing poetry at an early age, she did not begin a full-time career as an author until she was in her fifties. At that time, she turned her talents to writing children’s novels, often set in the American West or in the Florida Everglades. Her books told tales of young male protagonists through a series of adventures in natural settings, usually guided by wise and understanding mentors.
Wier was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1910, but she traveled frequently throughout her life. Her parents were Robert Armenio Alberti, a broker, and Lydea (Harshbarger) Alberti. She grew up in California and briefly attended both Southeastern Teachers’ College in Durant, Oklahoma, from 1929 to 1930 and the University of California at Los Angeles from 1931 to 1932. She gave up her college education and postponed her dreams of being a writer when she married United States Navy lieutenant Henry Robert Wier, in Hankow, China, in 1934. They continued to live in China for the next year. In the following years, they moved with their two children, David Anthony and Susan, to various military posts in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Florida.
In the 1950’s, Wier’s husband, now a captain, was stationed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where Wier resumed her writing career. Her first books were manuals for military wives, written with Dorothy Hickey. The two women wrote books on social customs in the Air Force, Army, and Navy. In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Wier began her career as a children’s author, drawing upon notes she had been gathering throughout her lifetime of travels and observations. While her husband was pursuing a master’s degree at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, Wier had an idea for a book about a young boy working on a sheep ranch. The book, written while she was in Indiana, was her first and most successful children’s novel, The Loner, published in 1963. The book was named a Newbery Honor Book for 1964. It was made into a Disney television movie in 1968.
Subsequently, Wier wrote fourteen more books for young readers, often using settings in Arizona and in the Florida Everglades. Her most successful books exhibit sensitive portraits of young men coming to grips with their environments under the tutelage of mentors. Wier’s books show a fondness for rural settings and a concern for environmental conservation.
Although Wier lived to be nearly ninety, dying in Lexington, South Carolina, in 2000, her last book was published in 1975. Her papers reside in the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota and in the De Grummond Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg.