14 Facts About Ann Petry

Ann Petry was an American writer of novels, short stories, children's books and journalism.

Ann Petry was the youngest of three daughters to Peter Clark Lane and Bertha James Lane.

Ann Petry's parents belonged to the black minority, numbering 15 inhabitants of the small town.

Ann Petry's father was a pharmacist and her mother was a shop owner, chiropodist, and hairdresser.

The family had none of the trappings of the middle class until Ann Petry was well into adulthood.

Ann Petry's father wrote a letter to The Crisis in 1920 or 1921 complaining about a teacher who refused to teach his daughters and his niece.

Ann Petry worked as a journalist writing articles for newspapers including The Amsterdam News and The People's Voice, and published short stories in The Crisis, where her first story appeared in 1943, Phylon, and other outlets.

Ann Petry was featured in a brief All-American News film segment covering her winning the award.

Back in Old Saybrook in 1947, Ann Petry worked on Country Place, The Narrows, other stories, and books for children, but they never achieved the same success as her first book.

Ann Petry drew on her personal experiences of the hurricane in Old Saybrook in Country Place.

Ann Petry was a member of the American Negro Theater and appeared in productions including On Striver's Row.

Ann Petry lectured at University of California, Berkeley, Miami University and Suffolk University, and was Visiting Professor of English at the University of Hawaii.

Ann Petry died in Old Saybrook at the age of 88 on April 28,1997.

Ann Petry was outlived by her husband George, who died in 2000, and her only daughter, Liz Petry.