E.B.White, the author of twenty books of prose and poetry, was awarded the 1970 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his children's books,
Stuart Littleand
Charlotte's Web. This award is given every five years "to an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have, over a period of years, made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children." The year 1970 also marked the publication of Mr White's third books for children,
The Trumpet of the Swan, honoured by the International Board on Books for international importance. In 1973, it received the Sequoyah Award (Oklahoma) and the William Allen White Award (Kansas), voted by the school children of those states as their "favourite book" of the year.
Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mr. White attended public schools there. He was graduated from Cornell University in 1921, worked in New York for a year, then travelled about. After five or six years of trying many sorts of jobs, he joined the staff of The New Yorkermagazine, then in its infancy. The connection proved a happy one and resulted in a steady output of satirical sketches, poems, essays and editorials. His essays have also appeared in Harper's Magazine, and his books include One Man's Meat, The Second Tree From the Corner, Letters of E.B.White, The Essays of E.B.Whiteand Poems