Louise Fitzhugh

Louise Fitzhugh (October 5, 1928 - November 19, 1974) was an American author and illustrator of young adult and children's literature. Her work includes Harriet the Spy, its sequel the The Long Secret and Nobody's Family is Going to Change. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she soon experienced her parents' divorce, from which her father, Millsaps Fitzhugh, gained custody, and so she lived with him in the South. She attended Miss Hutchison's School and... more

Louise Fitzhugh (October 5, 1928 - November 19, 1974) was an American author and illustrator of young adult and children's literature. Her work includes Harriet the Spy, its sequel the The Long Secret and Nobody's Family is Going to Change. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she soon experienced her parents' divorce, from which her father, Millsaps Fitzhugh, gained custody, and so she lived with him in the South. She attended Miss Hutchison's School and three different universities, without obtaining a degree. According to her obituary in the New York Times, Fitzhugh graduated from Barnard College in 1950. She lived most of her adult life in New York City and had houses in both Long Island and Bridgewater, Connecticut. She was married briefly to Ed Thompson, whom she dated in high school. After high school, she primarily dated women. Fitzhugh was the illustrator of the 1961 children's book Suzuki Beane, a parody of Eloise; while Eloise lived in the Plaza, Suzuki was the daughter of beatnik... less