Fun Facts Friday: Ann Petry

Ann Petry (12 October, 1908 – 28 April, 1997) was an American novelist, author of children’s books and short stories.

Books by Ann Petry*

1. The author was born as Ann Lane in Old Saybrook, CT. At the time she was one of 15 African Americans in the town.
2. The author’s father was a pharmacist, her mother a shop owner. Anna Louise James, the first African American pharmacist in Connecticut was her aunt.
3. She was also a pharmacist by profession, even though she wanted to be a writer since high school.
4. After marrying George D. Petry in 1938, the author moved to New York City working as a journalist.
5. The couple had one daughter, Liz.
6. The Street (1946) was the first novel by an African-American woman to sell more than a million copies.
7. The Street also won the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship award.
8. Petry was also an actress with the American Negro Theater.
9. Along with her writing career, Mrs. Petry was also a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, Miami University and Suffolk University. She was also a Visiting Professor of English at the University of Hawaii.
10. Petry passed away at Old Saybrook, she was 88 years old.

Books by Ann Petry*

Zohar — Man of la Book
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account