Eve Merriam

Eve Merriam (July 19, 1916 – April 11, 1992) was an American poet and writer.

Eve Merriam
Born	Eva Moskovitz (1916-07-19)July 19, 1916 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	April 11, 1992(1992-04-11) (aged 75) Manhattan, New York, United States
Occupation	Poet
Alma mater	Cornell University
Notable awards	Yale Younger Poets Prize NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children
Spouse	Erwin Spitzer ​ ​ (m. 1939; div. 1947)​ Martin Michel ​ ​ (m. 1947; div. 1960)​ Leonard C. Lewin ​ ​ (m. 1963; div. 1980)​ Waldo Salt ​ ​ (m. 1983; died 1987)​
Children	2 (with Michel)
Relatives	Jennifer Salt (stepdaughter)

Writing career

Merriam's first book was the 1946 Family Circle, which won the Yale Younger Poets Prize.^[1] In 1956, she published Emma Lazarus: Woman with a Torch.^[2] Her book, The Inner City Mother Goose (1969), was described as one of the most banned books of the time.^[3] It inspired a 1971 Broadway musical called Inner City, later revived in 1982 under the title Street Dreams.^[3][4][5]

In 1981, she won the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.^[3] One of her books for children is Halloween ABC. She published over 30 books,^[6] and taught at both City College and New York University.^[7]

In 1977, composer Patsy Rogers used Merriam’s text for her opera Woman Alive: Conversation Against Death.^[8] The play Out of Our Father's House, adapted by Merriam, Jack Hofsiss and Paula Wagner from Merriam's book Growing Up Female in America, with music by Ruth Crawford Seeger, was televised on the Great Performances series in 1978.^[9][10]

Personal life

Born Eva Moskovitz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Eve Merriam was one of four children of Russian Jewish immigrants Max Moscovitz and Jennie Siegel.^[6][11][12] After graduating with an A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1937,^[6][13] Merriam moved to New York to pursue graduate studies at Columbia University. She was married four times, with the first three ending in divorce: Erwin Spitzer (1939-1947), Martin Michel (1947-1960), and Leonard C. Lewin (1963-1980). She married screenwriter Waldo Salt in 1983 and remained with him until his death in 1987, and in the process became Jennifer Salt's stepmother.

Death

Merriam died on April 11, 1992, in Manhattan from liver cancer; she was 75.

References

Core biographical material

• "Eve Merriam, Poet and Author Who Wrote for Children, Is Dead," Bruce Lambert, The New York Times, April 13, 1992.
• Heffer, Helen Ruth Julian. A Checklist of Works by and about Eve Merriam. Master's thesis, University of Maryland, 1980. Includes 84-page biographical essay.
• Copeland, J. S., Speaking of Poets: Interviews with Poets Who Write for Children and Young Adults (1993).
• short biography from Wisconsin Writers' Collection at MITH
• Biography at Jewish Women's Archive
• “Eve Merriam.” In Anne Commire, ed., Something About the Author, vol. 40. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1985.

In other works

• Randy Shilts. The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life & Times of Harvey Milk (New York: St. Martins, 1982).
• Kate Weigand. Red Feminism: American Communism and the Making of Women's Liberation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001).

Archival materials

• Finding Aid for holdings related to Eve Merriam in the University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collection
• Papers, 1840-1978 (inclusive), 1930-1978 (bulk): A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library Archived 2012-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Additional papers, 1960-1984 (inclusive), 1978-1984 (bulk): A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library Archived 2012-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Additional papers of Eve Merriam, ca.1930-1992: A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library Archived 2012-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
• Audiovisual collection of Eve Merriam, 1964-1992: A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library Archived 2012-05-09 at the Wayback Machine, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.