Jean Lee Latham
Born on April 19th, Jean Lee Latham grew up in Buckhannon, West Virginia. She attended West Virginia Wesleyan College, where she wrote plays and operated the county newspaper’s linotype machine. She earned a master’s degree at Cornell University. While completing her degree, Ms. Latham taught English, history, and drama at Ithaca.
Once she graduated, she became editor-in-chief of the Dramatic Publishing Company in Chicago. She worked hard to become a radio writer, but WWII changed her plans. She signed up for the US Signal Corps Inspection Agency, where she trained women inspectors. The U.S. War Department gave her a Silver Wreath for her work.
After D-Day, Ms. Latham made the decision to write biographies for children. Her first book was The Story of Eli Whitney, published in 1953. Her third book, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, earned the Newbery Medal in 1956.
Playwright, author, and teacher, Ms. Latham died on June 13, 1995, at the age of 93. Her manuscripts are housed in the Children’s Literature Research Collection at the University of Minnesota.
“Behind Nat someone chuckled. Nat turned. Dr. Bentley was looking at him with a twinkle. "Is this a political argument?"Nat shrugged. "No argument at all. Ben's got an article there that talks against the President. I said I didn't want to hear it. I said that sort of thing ought to be stopped."To Nat's amazement, Dr. Bentley shook his head. "No, Nat. We can't have freedom—unless we have freedom."Nat stiffened. "Does that mean right to tell lies?"Dr. Bentley smiled. "It means the right to have our own opinions. Human problems aren't like mathematics, Nat. Every problem doesn't have just one answer; sometimes you get several answers—and you don't know which is the right one.”
“It's a simple matter of mathematics.”