Phyllis A. Whitney (September 9, 1903 – February 8, 2008)

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Phyllis Ayame Whitney (September 9, 1903 – February 8, 2008) was an American mystery writer. Rare for her genre, she wrote mysteries for both the juvenile and the adult markets, many of which feature exotic locations. A review in The New York Times once dubbed her "The Queen of the American Gothics".

She was born of American parents on September 9, 1903 in Yokohama, Japan.

After graduating from Chicago's McKinley High School in 1924, Phyllis began to write seriously. Beginning with short stories, she finally sold one to the Chicago Daily News.

During the 1940's, Phyllis A. Whitney served as Children's Book Editor of the Chicago Sun's Book Week (1942-1946) and the Philadelphia Inquirer (1947-1948). In 1941, her first book for young people, A Place for Ann, was published by Houghton Mifflin. And in 1943, her first adult suspense novel, Red is for Murder, was published by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. She also taught juvenile fiction writing courses at Northwestern University in 1945 and at New York University from 1947-1958.

Whitney wrote more than seventy novels. In 1961, her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile novel, and she duplicated the honor in 1964, for The Mystery of the Hidden Hand. In 1988, the MWA gave her a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement.

Phyllis A. Whitney had one daughter, Georgia, three grandchildren -- Barbara, Michael, and Lorraine, and two great-grandchildren, Danny and Matthew.

Whitney died of pneumonia on February 8, 2008, aged 104.

Phyllis A. Whitney's Books on Amazon: Phyllis A. Whitney

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_A._Whitney