Marie McSwigan (1902–1962)

Marie McSwigan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended Peabody High School and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. She wanted to be a newspaper reporter but had difficulty as a woman persuading male editors that she could do the job. Eventually, through persistence and resourcefulness, she succeeded in writing for several Pittsburgh newspapers. She also worked in publicity for many Pittsburgh area institutions, including Kennywood Amusement Park, the Carnegie Institute Fine Arts Department, and the University of Pittsburgh, before deciding to become a full-time writer. Her debut book was Sky Hooks: An Autobiography (1938) with John Kane, a self-taught American naive painter. She went on to become an award winning author of more than 10 children's books. Some of these books were based on actual events Marie read about in Associated Press or United Press International dispatches. Snow Treasure (1942), her first and most popular work for young people, told the story of Norwegian children who saved their country's millions in gold bullion from the Nazis in World War II by sledding it down a mountain past the German occupiers. It won the Young Reader's Choice Award. Her other books included Our Town Has a Circus (1949), Binnie Latches On (1950), The News Is Good (1952), Three's a Crowd (1953), and Small Miracle at Lourdes (1958).