McCaffrey, Anne, 1926-2011

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On April 1, 1926, Anne Inez McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to George Herbert McCaffrey and Anne Dorothy McElroy McCaffrey. Her father was a United States Army Colonel and her mother worked as an advertising copywriter in Boston. In 1947, McCaffrey graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, majoring in Slavonic Languages and Literatures. Her unpublished honors thesis was titled Eugene Ivanovich Zamiatin, with Special Emphasis on His Utopian novel, We . A copy of the thesis is in the manuscript division of the George Arents Library in Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. In 1948 McCaffrey worked in New York City as a copywriter and layout artist for the Liberty Music Shops. There she wrote advertisements based on lines from Bartlett's Famous Quotations . She also worked as the Secretary to the Sales Manager of Helena Rubenstein, Inc.

During the late forties McCaffrey was also involved in St. John Terrill's first musical circus in Lambertsville, New Jersey. In 1958, the family moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where she joined the Brecks Mill Cronies and studied voice under Ted Huang, the Choir Master. In 1963 the family moved to Düsseldorf, Germany, where McCaffrey studied voice under Ron Stewart. As final act of her theater career McCaffrey directed the American premiere of Carl Orff's Ludus de Nato Infante Mirificus, in which she also played a witch. Concurrently with her involvement in theater, McCaffrey wrote and published a number of science fiction short stories. Her first story Freedom of the Race was published in October 1953. In 1963, Virginia Kidd became McCaffrey's literary agent. Encouraged by the science fiction writer Robert Silverberg, McCaffrey decided to become a full-time writer in 1965 and has gone on to have an illustrious career as an author spanning more than forty years.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Anne McCaffrey papers on Dragonsinger Houghton Library
creatorOf Anne McCaffrey Papers, 1947-1967 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Ann McCaffrey papers, 1957-1999, undated, 1981-1999 Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
creatorOf Anne McCaffrey Papers, 1976 University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections
referencedIn Gordon Rupert Dickson Papers, 1934-2001 University of Minnesota Libraries. Literary Manuscripts Collection, Manuscripts Division. [mss]
referencedIn Piers Anthony Papers, 1951-1978 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Carter, Lin. Letters 1956-1978. Indiana University
creatorOf McCaffrey, Anne,. Anne McCaffrey papers, 1957-1999, 1981-1999. University of California, Riverside, UCR
creatorOf Anne McCaffrey Papers University of Minnesota. Children's Literature Research Collections.
creatorOf Inventory of the Anne McCaffrey Collection: Sci Fi MSS 00206., n.a. Cushing Memorial Library,
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Anthony, Piers Archives. person
associatedWith Ballantine, Betty person
associatedWith Campbell, John W., Jr. (John Wood), 1910-1971 person
associatedWith Carter, Lin. person
associatedWith Dickson, Gordon R. person
associatedWith Dickson, Gordon R. person
associatedWith Elwood, Roger person
associatedWith Karl, Jean person
associatedWith Kidd, Virginia person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Radcliffe College corporateBody
associatedWith Scarborough, Elizabeth Ann. person
memberOf Science fiction and fantasy writers of America corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Wicklow L IE
Cambridge MA US
Ireland 00 IE
Subject
American literature
Women authors, American
Women authors
Fantasy
Fantasy fiction
Fantasy fiction, American
Literature
McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonriders of Pern
Science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction, American
Science-fiction writers
Women novelists, American
Young adult literature
Occupation
Authors
Novelists
Activity

Person

Birth 1926-04-01

Death 2011-11-21

Americans

English

Information

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