Betty Levin

Elizabeth "Betty" Lowenthal Levin (September 10, 1927 – July 4, 2022) was an American college professor and a writer who specialized in fiction for young readers. She was co-founder of the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children's Literature, and of Children's Literature New England. She was also a sheep farmer, and bred border collies.

Betty Levin
A smiling older white woman, with grey hair, wearing glasses
Betty Levin, from a 2003 publication, photographed by Jill Paton Walsh
Born
Elizabeth Lowenthal

(1927-09-10)September 10, 1927
New York City
DiedJuly 4, 2022(2022-07-04) (aged 94)
Lincoln, Massachusetts
Occupation(s)College professor, writer
Parent
RelativesDavid Lowenthal (brother), John Lowenthal (brother), Julian Mack (great-uncle)

Early life and education

Betty Lowenthal was born in New York City, the daughter of Max Lowenthal and Eleanor Mack Lowenthal.[1] Her father was an attorney;[2] her mother was a music educator who worked on refugee resettlement during and after World War II. Her older brothers were attorney John Lowenthal[3] and historian and geographer David Lowenthal.[4] Their great-uncle was judge Julian Mack.

Lowenthal attended the National Cathedral School and graduated from Horace Mann Lincoln School in 1945. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester in 1949,[5] and a master's degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1951.[6]

Career

Levin was a member of the faculty at Simmons College,[7] and co-founded the Center for the Study of Children's Literature there. She also helped to found Children's Literature New England, a non-profit organization. Levin ran a sheep farm in Lincoln, Massachusetts,[8][9] and was a founding member of the New England Border Collie Association.[6] She was an active member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.[10]

Publications

Books by Levin

Levin began writing children's books after a creative writing fellowship at the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College from 1968 to 1970.[1] She published more than two dozen books for children, often set in New England, and sometimes with time-travel themes.[1] She received the Hope Sweetser Dean Award in 2001, and the Judy Lopez Memorial Children's Book Award in 1989.[6][11] She said, "Literature can only continue to grow from the roots of our collective experience if children understand that they are born creative and that all humans are myth users and storytellers."[12] "Levin combines several genres popular with the middle school reader," noted a Chicago Tribune reviewer in 1997, "and the mixture will draw in even a reluctant reader."[13]

  • The Zoo Conspiracy (1973)[14]
  • The Sword of Culann (1973)[15]
  • A Griffon's Nest (1975)[16]
  • The Forespoken (1976)[17]
  • Landfall (1979)[18]
  • Beast on the Brink (1980)[19]
  • The Keeping-Room (1981)[20]
  • A Binding Spell (1984)[21]
  • Put on my Crown (1985)
  • The Ice Bear (1986)[22]
  • The Trouble with Gramary (1988)[23]
  • Brother Moose (1990)[24]
  • Mercy's Mill (1992)[25]
  • Away to Me, Moss (1994)[26]
  • Starshine and Sunglow (1994)[27]
  • Fire in the Wind (1995)[28]
  • Island Bound (1997)[29]
  • Look Back, Moss (1998)
  • The Banished (1999)[30]
  • Creature Crossing (1999)[31]
  • Shadow Catcher (2000)[32]
  • That'll Do, Moss (2002)[33]
  • Shoddy Cove (2003)[34]
  • Thorn (2005)[35]
  • The Unmaking of Duncan Veerick (2007)[36]
  • The Forbidden Land (2010)[37]
  • Gift Horse (2010)[38]
  • A Realm of Their Own

Academic publication by Levin

Personal life

Betty Lowenthal married lawyer and publisher Alvin Leon Levin (1924–1987, who was not the author Alvin Levin) in 1947, while they were both students at the University of Rochester.[5] They had three daughters. She and her husband both survived polio in the 1950s; he used a wheelchair afterward.[1] Her husband died in 1987,[40] and one of her daughters died in 2016. She died in July 2022, at the age of 94, in Lincoln, Massachusetts.[6]

References
  1. Hedblad, Alan (2003). Something about the author. [electronic resource]. Internet Archive. Detroit, Mich. : Gale. pp. 122–127. ISBN 978-0-7876-5209-8 – via Internet Archive.
  2. "Collection: Max Lowenthal papers". University of Minnesota Archival Collections Guides. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  3. Lavietes, Stuart (2003-09-21). "John Lowenthal, 78, Professor Who Made Film on Hiss Trials". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  4. Clout, Hugh (2018-09-27). "David Lowenthal obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  5. "List of Graduates and Prize Winners at U. of R. Commencement Exercises". Democrat and Chronicle. 1949-06-21. p. 30. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Betty Lowenthal Levin's Obituary (2022)". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  7. "Children's Book Workshop Set". Poughkeepsie Journal. 1979-04-24. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Shepherds, suburban style". The Boston Globe. 1983-05-24. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Cole, Caroline L. (1990-05-13). "18th Sheep-Shearing Festival is next Sunday". The Boston Globe. p. 308. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Ashworth, Diana (1994-04-19). "There's Blood, Sweat and Tears Behind the Magic of Children's Books". Rutland Daily Herald. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Children's Books Focus of Banquet". The Los Angeles Times. 1989-05-03. p. 57. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Betty Levin". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  13. Veeder, Mary Harris (1997-09-07). "Children's Corner". Chicago Tribune. p. 379. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Levin, Betty (1973). The zoo conspiracy. Marian Parry. New York: Hastings House. ISBN 978-0-8038-8811-1. OCLC 572848.
  15. Levin, Betty (1973). The sword of Culann. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN 0-02-757340-0. OCLC 609713.
  16. Levin, Betty (1975). A griffon's nest. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-757350-8. OCLC 1094954.
  17. Levin, Betty (1976). The forespoken. New York: MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-756400-2. OCLC 2213201.
  18. Levin, Betty (1979). Landfall. New York: Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-50148-X. OCLC 4908095.
  19. Levin, Betty (1980). The beast on the brink. Marian Parry, Peter Heins, Margery Heins (1st Camelot printing ed.). New York: Avon Books. ISBN 0-380-76141-6. OCLC 1039191865.
  20. Cech, John (1981-03-22). "Levin Suggests People, Events are Connected". The Chapel Hill News. p. 26. Retrieved 2022-12-06. via Newspapers.com
  21. Levin, Betty (1984). A binding spell. New York: F. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-67151-X. OCLC 10799941.
  22. Levin, Betty (1986). The ice bear. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-06431-0. OCLC 13094361.
  23. "Children's Books Focus of Banquet". The Los Angeles Times. 1989-05-03. p. 57. Retrieved 2022-12-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. Levin, Betty (1990). Brother Moose. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-09266-7. OCLC 19920914.
  25. Levin, Betty (1992). Mercy's mill. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-11122-X. OCLC 24375452.
  26. Levin, Betty (1994). Away to me, Moss!. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-13439-4. OCLC 29879006.
  27. Levin, Betty (1994). Starshine and Sunglow. Joseph A. Smith. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-12806-8. OCLC 28797988.
  28. Levin, Betty (1995). Fire in the Wind. New York. ISBN 0-688-14299-0. OCLC 31815262.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  29. Levin, Betty (1997). Island Bound. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-15217-1. OCLC 35860940.
  30. Levin, Betty (1999). The Banished. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-16602-4. OCLC 39739694.
  31. Levin, Betty (1999). Creature Crossing. Joseph A. Smith. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-688-16220-7. OCLC 38430531.
  32. Levin, Betty. Shadow Catcher (Harper Collins, 2010 reprint).
  33. Levin, Betty (2002). That'll do, Moss. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-06-000532-7. OCLC 47625385.
  34. Levin, Betty (2003). Shoddy Cove. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0-06-052271-2. OCLC 50043125.
  35. Levin, Betty (2007). The unmaking of Duncan Veerick. Asheville, N.C.: Front Street. ISBN 978-1-932425-96-3. OCLC 82171119.
  36. Levin, Betty (2007). The unmaking of Duncan Veerick. Asheville, N.C.: Front Street. ISBN 978-1-932425-96-3. OCLC 82171119.
  37. Levin, Betty (2010). The Forbidden Land. South Hampton, N.H.: Namelos. ISBN 978-1-60898-098-7. OCLC 682649924.
  38. Levin, Betty. Gift Horse (Harper Collins 2010).
  39. Levin, Betty (April 1981). "Peppers' Progress: One Hundred Years of the Five Little Peppers". Horn Book Magazine. 57 (2): 161–73.
  40. Burge, Kathleen (2004-04-11). "Where past, present collide Metco tests Lincoln's history of social activism, town's fiscal concerns". The Boston Globe. p. 34. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
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