Survival

Jean Craighead George considers herself very lucky to have had parents who supported her interests. They sent her to dancing school, made sure she had a writing desk, and even had summer and winter homes that satisfied their daughter’s urge to ice-skate and swim. Early on, they encouraged her and let her decide who and what she wanted to be. Jean’s mother and her aunt Polly had a motto: “Be different. Never follow the crowd.” In time, Jean realized that the greatest gift her parents gave her
was a love of nature.  Born in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1919, Jean Craighead grew up in a family of naturalists. Jean’s family encouraged her to immerse herself in her natural surroundings. Jean found that she felt a close bond with the land and the animals.  Her childhood was filled with experiences that inspired and influenced her writing. Jean’s father was an entomologist, a scientist who studies insects. He often took Jean and her brothers into the wilderness along the Potomac River near their home. He taught his children how to make lean-tos and fish with homemade fishhooks and lines. As if she knew she might write a book about wilderness survival someday, Jean paid close attention as her father taught her where to find edible plants, as well as other wilderness survival skills. And the family all trained falcons, too. In fact, Jean’s brothers were two of the first falconers in the United States. At the age of thirteen, Jean was given a falcon of her own to train! At a young age, Jean discovered an outlet for her thoughts: writing. Jean has said, “I first became aware of the delights of the natural world when my father, an entomologist, presented me with what looked like a twig. When it got up and walked, my
delight was such that I wrote a poem, ‘To a Walking Stick.’ I was in the third grade and have been writing ever since.” In 1937, when Jean entered Pennsylvania State University, she discovered that her upbringing was different from that of her peers. “No one was more surprised than me when I got to college and found out that not everybody wrote and kept turkey vultures and owls in their backyard. I thought everyone lived with a closeness to nature. I wrote about [the natural world] because I knew it and loved it.” In 1941, Jean graduated with degrees in English and science. Years later, in 1968, Jean Craighead George was honored by her university. She was named Woman of the Year.  Before becoming a full-time author, George tried several other exciting careers, including a job as a member of the White House press corps and one as a reporter for the Washington Post newspaper. She was also a nature writer for Reader’s Digest. No matter what she did, though, Jean Craighead George never lost sight of what she loved most: experiencing and writing about the natural world.
In 1944, Jean married John George. Four years later, she published her first book, Vulpes the Red Fox, which she co-wrote with her husband. Jean kept writing while raising her three children, Craig, Luke, and Twig. When she was exploring nature on hikes and canoe trips Jean took her children with her. Jean
took notes and made observations. Returning home, she would write while the children slept—turning her thoughts about the wilderness and the animals around her into the setting and the
characters of her exceptional stories. Soon, Jean became well-known for weaving her extensive knowledge and love of nature into books for children. Jean Craighead George has now written more than ninety books for young readers—among them My Side of the Mountain, a 1960 Newbery Honor Book, and Julie of the Wolves, which was awarded the John Newbery Medal in 1973. Although most of Jean’s books are fiction, they have frequently appeared on lists of the best and most important books in the fields of social studies and science.