She wrote two other books in the same universe, The Long Secret and Sport.įitzhugh, like many of Harriet's fans, was a lesbian. Harriet is the daughter of affluent New Yorkers who leave her in the care of her nanny, Ole Golly, in their Manhattan townhouse.

According to her New York Times obituary, published November 19, 1974: 'The book helped introduce a new realism to children's fiction and has been widely imitated'. Today, it is much sought-after on used-book websites.įitzhugh's best-known book was Harriet the Spy, published in 1964 to some controversy, since so many characters were far from admirable. Although a parody of both Eloise and beatnik conceit, the book sprang to life as a genuine work of literature. Fitzhugh worked closely with author Sandra Scoppettone to produce Suzuki Beane, which incorporated typewriter font and line drawings in an original way. Career įitzhugh was the illustrator of the 1961 children's book Suzuki Beane, a parody of Eloise while Eloise lived in the Plaza, Suzuki was the daughter of beatnik parents and slept on a mattress on the floor of a Bleecker Street pad in Greenwich Village. She lived most of her adult life in New York City and had houses in both Long Island and Bridgewater, Connecticut. She studied art in Italy and France, and continued her studies at the Art Students League and the Cooper Union. She attended Bard College where she became involved in politics and antiracism. She lived in Washington, DC, France, and Italy.

She attended Miss Hutchison's School and three different universities. Her parents divorced when she was an infant and her father, Millsaps Fitzhugh, gained custody she lived with him in the South. Louise Fitzhugh (Octo– November 19, 1974) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books, known best for the novel Harriet the Spy and its sequels, The Long Secret and Sport.įitzhugh was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to wealthy parents in 1928.

Harriet the spy author