Phyllis McGinley was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 of children's books and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 about the positive aspects of suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

an life.

McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon

Ontario, Oregon

Ontario is the largest city in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It lies along the Snake River at the Idaho border. The population was 10,985 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 11,245 in 2006...

. At age 3, her family moved to Iliff Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, and then to Ogden, Utah

Ogden, Utah

Ogden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. Ogden serves as the county seat of Weber County. The population was 82,825 according to the 2010 Census. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a...

 after her father died.

She studied at the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

 and the University of Utah

University of Utah

The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...

 in Salt Lake City where she was a Kappa Kappa Gamma

Kappa Kappa Gamma

Kappa Kappa Gamma is a collegiate women's fraternity, founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois, USA. Although the groundwork of the organization was developed as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted that October 13, 1870 should be recognized at the official Founders Day, because no...

, graduating in 1927, then moved to New York City. She wrote copy for an advertising agency, then taught at a junior high school in New Rochelle, New York

New Rochelle, New York

New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...

 for one year, until her career as a writer and poet took off.

A poet from the age of six, she published prolifically. Her poems appeared primarily in The New Yorker

The New Yorker

The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

, where she first published in 1934 or earlier, but she also wrote for such outlets as New York Herald Tribune

New York Herald Tribune

The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...

and was the poetry editor for Town & Country

Town & Country (magazine)

Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...

. She also wrote the lyrics for a musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 revue, Small Wonder, in 1948, and the script for the Czech animated feature film "The Emperor's Nightingale," in 1951.

In 1955, she was elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

In 1961 she won the Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

 for Poetry; in 1964 she was honored with the Laetare Medal

Laetare Medal

The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Roman Catholic church and society...

 by the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 (described as 'An honor to a man or woman who has "enriched the heritage of humanity"'). She also holds nearly a dozen honorary degrees - "including one from the stronghold of strictly masculine pride, Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...

" (from the dust jacket of Sixpence in Her Shoe (copy 1964)).

She moved to Larchmont, New York

Larchmont, New York

Larchmont is a village in Westchester County, New York. The population was 5,864 at the 2010 census. It is located within the town of Mamaroneck, on the shore of Long Island Sound, northeast of Midtown Manhattan...

 in 1937 with her husband, Charles Hayden, and raised two daughters there, singing the praises of domesticity and small town suburbia for nearly 40 years. McGinley died in New York City in 1978.

Collected poems

• On the Contrary (1934)
• One More Manhattan (1937)
• Husbands Are Difficult (1941)
• Stones from Glass Houses (1946)
• The Love Letters of Phyllis McGinley (1954)
• Merry Christmas, Happy New Year (1958)
• Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades (1960), winning a Pulitzer Prize
  Pulitzer Prize
  The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
  
  
• Sugar and Spice (1960)
• A Wreath of Christmas Legends (1967)
• Fourteenth Birthday (date unknown)
• The Adversary (date unknown)
• Daniel at Breakfast (date unknown)
• Without a Cloak (date unknown)

Collected essays

• Province of the Heart (1959)
• Sixpence in Her Shoe (1964)
• Wonderful Time (1966)
• Saint Watching (1969)

Children's books

• The Horse That Lived Upstairs (1944)
• All Around the Town (1948)
• Blunderbus (1951)
• The Make-Believe Twins (1953)
• The Year Without a Santa Claus (1957)
• Boys Are Awful (1962)
• How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas (1963)