Sally Hobart Alexander

Sally Hobart Alexander (born 1943) is an American writer of children's literature. She is best known for her books about her experiences as a blind person.

Sally Hobart Alexander
Born1943
Owensboro, Kentucky
OccupationWriter of children's books
AwardsChristopher Award (1995)

Early life and education

Sally Hobart was born in 1943 in Owensboro, Kentucky, the daughter of Robert Hobart and Kate Hobart.[1] She graduated from Hazelton High School in 1961,[2] and Bucknell University in 1965.[3] In 1973, she earned a master's degree in social work at the University of Pittsburgh.[4]

Career

After her undergraduate degree, Alexander taught third-grade students in Southern California,[5] when a rare disease caused blood vessels in her retina to break, which eventually led to total blindness.[6] She told Contemporary Authors, "I was unhappy to leave that last year [of my teaching], when my visual difficulties began. I entered an excellent training program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for newly blinded adults. For a year afterward, I taught at the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind."[4]

Alexander embarked on a writing career in children's fiction with the publication of her first book, Mom Can't See Me (1990), in which Alexander depicts a loving family that has learned to cope with having a blind parent. She has published eight titles as of 2008,[7] including two memoirs, Taking Hold (1994) and On My Own (1997),[8][9] and a young readers' biography of Laura Bridgman.[10]

Alexander teaches literature and writing in the Chatham University Master of Fine Arts Program in Children’s and Adolescent Writing.[4] She received the 1995 Christopher Award for Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness.[1]

Personal life

Sally Hobart married Bob Alexander, an English professor. They have two children and live in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.[11] In recent years, she has developed hearing loss, and wears hearing aids.[7] "Although I don't minimize the challenges of my deaf-blindness," she wrote in 2010, "I do believe that were I to lose all my hearing, I would still find meaning and joy in reading and writing books."[12]

Books
  • Mom Can't See Me, children's semi-autobiographical (New York: Macmillan, 1990).[13]
  • Sarah's Surprise, fiction (New York: Macmillan, 1990).[14]
  • Mom's Best Friend, children's semi-autobiographical (New York: Macmillan, 1992).[15]
  • Maggie's Whopper, fiction (New York: Macmillan, 1992).[16]
  • Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness , nonfiction autobiographical (New York: Macmillan, 1994).[9]
  • On My Own: The Journey Continues, nonfiction autobiographical (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997).[17]
  • Do You Remember the Color Blue? And Other Questions Kids Ask about Blindness, nonfiction (New York: Viking, 2000).[18]
  • She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer, (co-author with Robert Alexander) nonfiction (New York: Clarion Books, 2008).[10]

Sources
  1. "Sally Hobart Alexander to get '95 Christopher Award". Standard-Speaker. 1995-02-18. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Class Holds Reunion". Standard-Speaker. 2011-11-14. pp. A9. Retrieved 2020-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Sally Hobart Alexander speaker for Lions party for the blind". Standard-Speaker. 1975-12-03. p. 18. Retrieved 2020-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2003. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000119400.
  5. "Author to Appear at Library Anniversary". Standard-Speaker. 1997-09-21. p. 47. Retrieved 2020-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Lee, Elizabeth (1995-03-01). "Children's book author shares unique experiences with pupils". News Record. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "About Sally Alexander". Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  8. "Meet Sally Hobart Alexander". Houghton Mifflin Reading. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  9. Toren, Suzanne. "TAKING HOLD by Sally Hobart Alexander Read". AudioFile Magazine. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  10. Alexander, Sally Hobart; Alexander, Robert Joseph (2008). She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-blind Pioneer. Clarion Books. ISBN 978-0-618-85299-4.
  11. Fromm, Ann McKenna (1990-08-26). "Squirrel Hill Author's Books Offer Lesson in Living". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 146. Retrieved 2020-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Alexander, Sally Hobart (2010-04-10). "Opening my mind". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 15. Retrieved 2020-07-31 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Alexander, Sally Hobart. (1990). Mom can't see me. Ancona, George (1st ed.). New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-700401-5. OCLC 20357600.
  14. Alexander, Sally Hobart. (1990). Sarah's surprise. Kastner, Jill (1st American ed.). New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-700391-4. OCLC 20131989.
  15. Alexander, Sally Hobart. (1992). Mom's best friend. Ancona, George. (1st ed.). New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-700393-0. OCLC 25051058.
  16. Alexander, Sally Hobart. (1992). Maggie's whopper. Ray, Deborah Kogan, 1940- (1st ed.). New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-700201-2. OCLC 23143894.
  17. Alexander, Sally Hobart (1997). On My Own: The Journey Continues. Farrar Straus Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-35641-5.
  18. Alexander, Sally Hobart. (2000). Do you remember the color blue? : and other questions kids ask about blindness. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-88043-4. OCLC 41488721.
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