Author Biography
There is some discrepancy over the actual year of Shirley Jackson’s birth. Some sources say she was born in 1919 others say 1916. However, Judy Oppenheimer determined that Jackson was born on December 14, 1916. Jackson lied about her age to appear younger than her husband (Spiritus-Temporis.com). Born Shirley Hardie Jackson by parents Leslie and Geraldine Jackson in San Francisco, California the family soon moved across the country to New York State where Jackson attended The University of Rochester, but graduated from Syracuse University in 1940 ( “Shirley Jackson”Wikipedia.com). It was also at Syracuse University that she met her husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman (Seymour-Smith and Kimmens).
Jackson’s talent for writing was apparent at a young age. She published her first short story in New Republic in 1941 (“Shirley Jackson” Wikipedia.com). In Jackson’s life time she produced six novels, two memoirs of her family life, and numerous short stories (Seymour-Smith and Kimmens). Jackson’s literary success did not come without hardships. She balanced her writing career with taking care of a house, husband, and four children. Jackson has been quoted as saying, “Fifty percent of my life was spent washing and dressing the children, cooking, washing dishes and clothes, and mending” (Seymour-Smith and Kimmens).
As for her work, Jackson is probably most well known for “The Lottery”. After it was published in The New Yorker the magazine received more letters critiquing the story than it had during its history (Seymour-Smith and Kimmens). Jackson is mostly known for her subject matter on the shocking and the gothic. However, Jackson is rarely celebrated for her work with children’s books. Later in life she departed from horror and went more towards comedy (Spiritus-Temporis.com). Jackson’s children’s book “Nine Magic Wishes” and her memoirs focused on her hectic life as a house wife.
As with her birth there is a dispute over what her final piece of work was. While she was alive she published “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” although after her death a box of her stories was published under the name “Come Along With Me” (“Shirley Jackson”Wikipedia.com). Despite Jackson living a successful life it came to a halt when she died of heart failure in her home in Bennington, Vermont (Seymour-Smith and Kimmens). Jackson died on August 8, 1965 at the age of 48. Her early death was contributed to being a heavy smoker, overweight, and taking prescription medicines for psychosomatic illnesses (“Shirley Jackson” Wikipedia.com).
Works Cited
Seymour-Smith, Martin and Andrew C. Kimmens, ed. “Jackson Shirley”Biography from World Authors 1900-1950. 1996. Biography Reference Bank. Richard Stockton College, Pomona. 15 June 2009 http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.stockton.edu:2048/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.21.
Spiritus-Temporis.http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/shirley-jackson/ 2005. 15 June 2009 http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/shirley-jackson/.
“Shirley Jackson”.Wikipedia.com.2009. 15 June 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Jackson.
