Mildred D. Taylor

Mildred D. Taylor
Born	September 13, 1943 (1943-09-13) Jackson, Mississippi
Ethnicity	African American
Notable work(s)	Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Notable award(s)	Newbery Medal

Mildred DeLois Taylor (born September 13, 1943 in Jackson, Mississippi) is an African American author, known for her works exploring the struggle faced by African-American families in the Deep South. Mildred Taylor lived in Jackson as a child only a short time, then moved to Toledo, Ohio, where she spent most of her childhood. She now lives in Colorado with her daughter. She has expressed her views on the Great Depression as an economical crisis, as well as slavery.

Many of her works are based on stories of her family that she heard while growing up. She has stated that these anecdotes became very clear in her mind, and in fact, once she realized that adults talked about the past “I began to visualize all the family who had once known the land, and I felt as if I knew them, too...” Taylor has talked about how much history was in the stories; some stories took place during times of slavery and some post-slavery.

Taylor's most famous book is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. The novel won the 1977 Newbery Medal. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the middle book, chronologically, in a five-book series that also includes The Land, Song of the Trees, Let the Circle Be Unbroken, and The Road to Memphis.

External links

• Mississippi Writers Page Links: Mildred D.Taylor