Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson was born in San Francisco, California on December 14, 1916. She grew up in Burlingame and attended the University of Rochester and then Syracuse University. After graduating in 1940, she moved to New York City where she began to write professionally. Her works appeared in The New Yorker, Redbook, The Saturday Evening Post, and The Ladies’ Home Journey. She published her first novel, The Road through the Wall, in 1948. In that same year, The New Yorker published “The Lottery,” Jackson’s most famous short story. She wrote many novels relying on supernatural, provocative, and chilling matters including Life among the Savages, a novel she wrote about her domestic experiences. She had four children with her husband Stanley Edgar Hyman, a professional literary critic. On August 8, 1965 Shirley Jackson died of heart failure. She became one of the most famous authors of all time and continues to influence many writers till this day.