Santmyer helen hooven biography channel

Helen Hooven Santmyer waited almost ninety years to publish the book of her dreams. When she did, not even she was prepared for the public's overwhelming response.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised in Xenia, Santmyer grew up in a Civil-War-era home that originally belonged to her maternal grandparents.

Santmyer describes her childhood there as active, happy, and carefree; it became even more enjoyable when she traded in her sneakers for schoolwork and began learning to read. After reading Little Women in grade school, Santmyer decided to become a writer; her mother fully encouraged the little girl's dreams and set up a makeshift office for her at home.

Upon graduating from high school in 1913, Santmyer set her sights on college.

Santmyer helen hooven biography channel

Though she applied to and was accepted at Wellesley (in Massachusetts), Santmyer had to defer when she came down with typhoid fever. Finally, a fully recovered Santmyer began her college career in 1914. She graduated with excellent grades in 1918, e