death_date death_place birth_place subject name birth_date period spouse genre article_title birth_name occupation
22 november 2010 new york city , new york , usa kamsack , saskatchewan , canada japan jeff steven 29 may 1922 1945 -- 2010 wymberley -rrb- de renne coerr -lrb- m. 1965 -- 1996 children 's literature , picture books eleanor coerr
 eleanor page writer
eleanor coerr

eleanor coerr -lrb- née page -rrb- -lrb- may 29 , 1922 -- november 22 , 2010 -rrb- was a canadian-born american writer of children 's books , including `` sadako and the thousand paper cranes '' -lrb- nonfiction -rrb- and many picture books .
she was born in kamsack , saskatchewan , canada , and raised in saskatoon .
as a child , she liked to think up and read new stories .
through her best friend in high school , who was born to japanese immigrants , coerr developed an interest in calligraphy , japanese food , and origami .
she was exposed to japanese scenery and told her friend that she wished to visit japan one day , a request which coerr fulfilled during the writing of `` sadako and the thousand paper cranes '' .
she attended the university of saskatchewan , later transferring to the kadel airbrush school .
she earned a bachelor 's degree in english from american university , and a master 's degree in library science from the university of maryland .
after graduation , coerr worked as a newspaper reporter and editor of a children 's column .
she taught children 's literature at monterey peninsula college and creative writing at chapman college in california .
she was married to wymberly de renne coerr -lrb- 1913 -- 1996 -rrb- from 1965 until his death from parkinson 's disease in 1996 .
he was a career diplomat , and she traveled with him to a number of countries , including foreign posts in japan , taiwan , thailand , philippines , and brazil .
coerr both wrote and illustrated her first book in 1945 , although she did not begin to publish her work until the 1970s .
her later work included children 's books , philanthropy , and giving lectures at american universities and overseas .
after wymberly 's death , she became more reclusive and stayed at private residences in pebble beach , california and henderson , nevada .
coerr died on november 22 , 2010 at the age of 88 .
both she and wymberly were cremated .
