Carol Ryrie Brink(1895-1981)
- Writer
Caroline Ryrie was the daughter of a Scots immigrant who became the
first mayor of the town of Moscow, Idaho, and his wife, the daughter of
a pioneer medical doctor. Early orphaned, Carol, as she was called, was
reared by her maternal grandmother Caroline Augusta Woodhouse Watkins
and her two maiden aunts; they were all skilled and descriptive
storytellers, and in particular, Mrs. Watkins's stories about growing
up in the Wisconsin woods were the basis of a number of books and short
stories, including the 1935 Newbery Award winning work of children's
fiction "Caddie Woodlawn." Carol Ryrie attended the University of Idaho
but took her bachelor's degree from Berkeley in 1918. Soon after she
married; and after living in Europe for a time, she subsequently moved
to St. Paul, Minnesota, where her husband taught mathematics at the
University of Minnesota. While raising two children, Mrs. Brink
rediscovered her affinity for writing stories, first found during high
school and in college, and was soon writing articles and short stories
for local publications. She soon graduated to national publications and
then started writing book-length works of fiction, for both adults and
children. She was the author of three plays (including one based on the
book "Caddie Woodlawn") and twenty-seven novels.
She is the grandmother of production designer Clark Hunter and great-grandmother of actor Andrew Eiden his sister Emily Eiden, an actress, singer Alex Hunter and actress Nora Hunter.
She is the grandmother of production designer Clark Hunter and great-grandmother of actor Andrew Eiden his sister Emily Eiden, an actress, singer Alex Hunter and actress Nora Hunter.