Sally Hobart Alexander Explained

Sally Hobart Alexander
Birth Place:	Owensboro, Kentucky
Alma Mater:	Bucknell University University of Pittsburgh
Occupation:	Writer of children's books
Awards:	Christopher Award (1995)

Sally Hobart Alexander is an American writer of children's literature. She is best known for her books about her experiences as a blind person.

Early life and education

Sally Hobart was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, the daughter of Robert Hobart and Kate Hobart.^[1] She graduated from Hazelton High School,^[2] and Bucknell University.^[3] She earned a master's degree in social work at the University of Pittsburgh.^[4]

Career

After her undergraduate degree, Alexander taught third-grade students in Southern California,^[5] when a rare disease caused blood vessels in her retina to break, which eventually led to total blindness.^[6] She told Contemporary Authors, "I was unhappy to leave that last year [of my teaching], when my visual difficulties began. I entered an excellent training program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for newly blinded adults. For a year afterward, I taught at the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind."

Alexander embarked on a writing career in children's fiction with the publication of her first book, Mom Can't See Me (1990), in which Alexander depicts a loving family that has learned to cope with having a blind parent. She has published eight titles as of 2008,^[7] including two memoirs, Taking Hold (1994) and On My Own (1997),^{[8] [9]} and a young readers' biography of Laura Bridgman.^[10]

Alexander teaches literature and writing in the Chatham University Master of Fine Arts Program in Children's and Adolescent Writing. She received the 1995 Christopher Award for Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness.

Personal life

Sally Hobart married Bob Alexander, an English professor. They have two children and live in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.^[11] In recent years, she has developed hearing loss, and wears hearing aids. "Although I don't minimize the challenges of my deaf-blindness," she wrote in 2010, "I do believe that were I to lose all my hearing, I would still find meaning and joy in reading and writing books."^[12]

Books

• Mom Can't See Me, children's semi-autobiographical (New York: Macmillan, 1990).^[13]
• Sarah's Surprise, fiction (New York: Macmillan, 1990).^[14]
• Mom's Best Friend, children's semi-autobiographical (New York: Macmillan, 1992).^[15]
• Maggie's Whopper, fiction (New York: Macmillan, 1992).^[16]
• Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness , nonfiction autobiographical (New York: Macmillan, 1994).
• On My Own: The Journey Continues, nonfiction autobiographical (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997).^[17]
• Do You Remember the Color Blue? And Other Questions Kids Ask about Blindness, nonfiction (New York: Viking, 2000).^[18]
• She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer, (co-author with Robert Alexander) nonfiction (New York: Clarion Books, 2008).

External links

• Sally Hobart Alexander website

Notes and References

1. News: 1995-02-18. Sally Hobart Alexander to get '95 Christopher Award. 8. Standard-Speaker. 2020-07-31. Newspapers.com.
2. News: 2011-11-14. Class Holds Reunion. A9. Standard-Speaker. 2020-07-31. Newspapers.com.
3. News: 1975-12-03. Sally Hobart Alexander speaker for Lions party for the blind. 18. Standard-Speaker. 2020-07-31. Newspapers.com.
4. Contemporary Authors Online. The Gale Group, 2003. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000119400.
5. News: 1997-09-21. Author to Appear at Library Anniversary. 47. Standard-Speaker. 2020-07-31. Newspapers.com.
6. News: Lee. Elizabeth. 1995-03-01. Children's book author shares unique experiences with pupils. 8. News Record. 2020-07-31. Newspapers.com.
7. Web site: About Sally Alexander. 2020-07-31. Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). en-US.
8. Web site: Meet Sally Hobart Alexander. 2020-07-31. Houghton Mifflin Reading. 2015-04-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20150428201422/http://eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/alexander.html. dead.
9. Web site: Toren. Suzanne. TAKING HOLD by Sally Hobart Alexander Read. 2020-07-31. AudioFile Magazine. en.
10. Book: Alexander. Sally Hobart. She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-blind Pioneer. Alexander. Robert Joseph. 2008. Clarion Books. 978-0-618-85299-4. en.
11. News: Fromm. Ann McKenna. 1990-08-26. Squirrel Hill Author's Books Offer Lesson in Living. 146. The Pittsburgh Press. 2020-07-31. Newspapers.com.
12. News: Alexander. Sally Hobart. 2010-04-10. Opening my mind. 15. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2020-07-31. Newspapers.com.
13. Book: Alexander, Sally Hobart.. Mom can't see me. 1990. Macmillan. Ancona, George. 0-02-700401-5. 1st. New York. 20357600.
14. Book: Alexander, Sally Hobart.. Sarah's surprise. 1990. Macmillan. Kastner, Jill. 0-02-700391-4. 1st American. New York. 20131989.
15. Book: Alexander, Sally Hobart.. Mom's best friend. 1992. Macmillan. Ancona, George.. 0-02-700393-0. 1st. New York. 25051058.
16. Book: Alexander, Sally Hobart.. Maggie's whopper. 1992. Macmillan. Ray, Deborah Kogan, 1940-. 0-02-700201-2. 1st. New York. 23143894.
17. Book: Alexander, Sally Hobart. On My Own: The Journey Continues. 1997. Farrar Straus Giroux. 978-0-374-35641-5. en.
18. Book: Alexander, Sally Hobart.. Do you remember the color blue? : and other questions kids ask about blindness. 2000. Viking. 0-670-88043-4. New York. 41488721.