I have read a bunch of biographies of authors before, and after you read a few you start to feel that someone has to have a tortured life to be a good writer. E.B. White proves that hypothesis as wrong. He grew up in a loving home. He started writing early, winning his first writing competition at nine, and then regularly submitted poems to magazines until he went to college. After college he took a road trip with a friend and ended up as a reporter in San Francisco. Later he returned east and wrote for Harper's Magazine and the New Yorker. He eventually moved with his wife and family to a farm in Maine where he wrote Stewart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan, all of which, to my knowledge, have never been out of print.Granted, this is a biography for children. Maybe if I read the other biography of the same name written for adults I would discover that Webb suffered from chronic depression, or sever anxiety of something. The book is illustrated with collages of artwork, photography and text that are beautifully arranged to reflect the peaceful mood of the text and of White's life. This book got a ton of starred reviews when it came out and all of them are well deserved. (2016, 161 p.)
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