
E.B. White Biography
Synopsis
E.B. White was born in New York in 1899. In 1927, White joined The New Yorker magazine as writer and contributing editor—a position he would hold for the rest of his career. He wrote three books for children, including Stuart Little (1945) and Charlotte's Web (1952). In 1959 he revised The Elements of Style by the late William Strunk Jr., which became a standard style manual for writers. White, who earned a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 1978, passed away at his home in Maine in 1985.
Early Life and Career
Writer E.B. White was born on July 11, 1899, in Mount Vernon, New York. His parents named him Elwyn Brooks White, but he did not appreciate the name. "I never liked Elwyn. My mother just hung it on me because she'd run out of names," he told The New York Times in 1980. "I was her sixth child."
While attending Cornell University, White acquired the nickname "Andy," which he was known by for the rest of his life. In college, he served as the editor of the school's newspaper; after graduating in 1921, White pursued a career in journalism for several years. He worked for the United Press and the Seattle Times before eventually landing a position with The New Yorker magazine in 1927. For the rest of his career, he would work with this literary publication.
White also met his wife, Katharine, an editor and writer, at The New Yorker. The couple married in 1929.
Later Years
White wrote numerous poems and essays during his life; a collection of his essays came out in 1977. That same year, White's wife passed away. He was devastated by the loss.
On October 1, 1985, White died at his home in North Brooklin, Maine. He was 86 and, according to The New York Times, had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease. White was survived by his son, Joel; his stepchildren, Roger Angell and Nancy Stableford; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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