Eve Merriam

Eve Merriam (July 19, 1916 - April 11, 1992) was an American poet, playwright and teacher.

Born Eva Moskovitz to Russian parents in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she began writing poems when she was seven years old, and continued writing poems for the rest of her life for fun. In high school, her poems were printed in the school newspaper. She later went to Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.

She wrote a book about poetry called "Family Circle" (1946). She became famous for her poetry, but she was also a playwright and teacher. She's best known for her children's books of poetry, including "There is No Rhyme for Silver" (1964), "It Doesn’t Always Have to Rhyme" (1964), "Catch a Little Rhyme" (1966), "The Inner City Mother Goose" (1969) "Finding a Poem" (1970), "Out Loud" (1973), and "Rainbow Writing" (1976).

Her book "Inner City Mother Goose" was described as the most banned book of the time. There was a Broadway musical based on it called "Inner City". In 1981 she won the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.

She was married for a time to writer Leonard C. Lewin. She died in 1992 from cancer.

References

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE3D71638F930A25757C0A964958260&st=cse&sq=eve+merriam&scp=2 "Eve Merriam, Poet and Author Who Wrote for Children, Is Dead,"] Bruce Lambert, "The New York Times", April 13, 1992.