EDITH BALLINGER PRICE

Noted author and illustrator of children’s books, Edith Ballinger Price, daughter of artist Eleanor French Richards Price and William Farmer Price, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Edith grew up drawing and painting with her grandfather, renowned landscape artist William Trost Richards. In 1911, at the age of fourteen, Price began formal studies at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She later studied at the New York Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. Beginning with the acceptance of her first story for publication by St. Nicholas magazine for children, “Blue Magic,” in 1918, Price embarked on a career as a writer and illustrator. In 1920 “Blue Magic” was published in book form. Price went on to publish eighteen books and numerous stories, poetry and illustrations in such magazines as Collier’s, The Portal, and Youth’s Companion. Edith moved with her family from New Jersey to the Richards family’s summer home in Newport, Rhode Island in 1900, and continued to live in the house at 7 Arnold Street for most of her life. Price was an active charter member of the Newport Art Association and taught artistic anatomy classes there. She was also a founder of the Girl Scouts’ Brownie program in the United States. In the early 1920s Price adopted Burchey May Perry, a child who had been born blind. “My Lady Lee”, published in 1925, is a fictionalized account of their early years together. In 1962 Price moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she worked at A.R.E. Press, publisher of the works of psychic Edgar Cayce. She died in Virginia Beach on September 29, 1997, at the age of one hundred.