Dare Wright

Dare Wright
Born	December 3, 1914(1914-12-03) Thornhill, Ontario
Died	January 25, 2001(2001-01-25) (aged 86) Manhattan, New York
Occupation	Photographer, author, model
Nationality	Canadian American
Period	1957-1981
Genres	Children's literature
darewright.com

Dare Wright (December 3, 1914 – January 25, 2001) was a Canadian American children's author, model and photographer.

Biography

Born in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, Wright spent most of her childhood in Cleveland, Ohio. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother, the portrait artist Edith Stevenson Wright, while her brother, Blaine, went to live with his father, Ivan Wright, a theater critic in New York City. The siblings did not meet again until Dare moved to New York City in her twenties.

Wright's mother died in 1975 and her brother in 1985.^[1]

After that she withdrew into seclusion and alcoholism in her apartment just off Fifth Avenue.^[2] Wright died on January 25, 2001 at the age of 86 in Manhattan.^[3] She had been admitted to Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island in May 1995 after suffering respiratory failure and being placed on a ventilator.

Books

In 1957, she photographed her childhood Lenci doll, Edith, along with two teddy bears bought at FAO Schwarz, for her first children's book, titled The Lonely Doll. The book made The New York Times Best Seller list for children's books. In November 2010, The British Newspaper The Guardian named The Lonely Doll one of the 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books of all time.^[4] It was followed by eighteen other stories. Out of print for many years, it was reissued in 1998, introducing Wright to a new generation of readers. Make Me Real, which features another of Wright's childhood dolls, and Ocracoke in The Fifties, her only book written for adults, have been published posthumously.

Photographs

Dare Wright's photographs were first exhibited in 2011 by Fred Torres Collaborations.

Bibliography

• The Lonely Doll. Doubleday, (1957)
• Holiday for Edith and the Bears. Doubleday, (1958)
• The Little One. Doubleday, (1959)
• The Doll and the Kitten. Doubleday, (1960)
• Date with London. Random House, (1961)
• The Lonely Doll Learns a Lesson. Doubleday, (1961)
• Lona, a Fairy Tale. Random House, (1963)
• Edith and Mr. Bear. Random House, (1964)
• Take Me Home. Random House, (1965)
• A Gift from the Lonely Doll. Random House, (1966)
• Look at a Gull. Random House, (1967)
• Edith and Big Bad Bill. Random House, (1968)
• Look at a Colt. Random House, (1969)
• The Kitten's Little Boy. Four Winds Press, (1971)
• Edith and Little Bear Lend a Hand. Random House, (1972)
• Look at a Calf. Random House, (1974)
• Look at a Kitten. Random House, (1975)
• Edith and Midnight. Doubleday, (1978)
• Edith and the Duckling. Doubleday, (1981)

Books still in print

• The Lonely Doll. Doubleday, (1957)
• Edith and Mr. Bear. Random House, (1964)
• A Gift from the Lonely Doll. Random House, (1966)

Newly Published

• Make Me Real. Xlibris. (2007)
• Ocracoke In the Fifties. John F. Blair, (2006)

References

1. ^ Nathan, Jean – The Search for Dare Wright: The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll". Picador, 2004.
2. ^ Nathan, Jean – The Search for Dare Wright: The Secret Life of the Lonely Doll". Picador, 2004.
3. ^ "Dare Wright -- Children's Author, 86". The New York Times. 2001-02-03. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/03/nyregion/dare-wright-children-s-author-86.html. Retrieved 2009-05-14. 
4. ^ Kellaway, Kate (November 28, 2010). "The 10 best illustrated children's books". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gallery/2010/nov/28/ten-best-illustrated-childrens-books. 

External links

• Official website
• This American Life episode
• Toronto author’s heir wants to revive interest in her once famous children’s books about The Lonely Doll

Persondata
Name	Wright, Dare
Alternative names
Short description	Photographer, author, model
Date of birth	December 3, 1914
Place of birth	Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Date of death	January 25, 2001
Place of death	Manhattan, New York