Caroline Ryrie was the daughter of a Scots immigrant who became the first mayor of the town of Moscow, Idaho, and his wife, the daughter of a pioneer medical doctor. Early orphaned, Carol, as she was called, was reared by her maternal grandmother Caroline Augusta Woodhouse Watkins and her two maiden aunts; they were all skilled and descriptive storytellers, and in particular, Mrs. Watkins's stories about growing up in the Wisconsin woods were the basis of a number of books and short stories, including the 1935 Newbery Award winning work of children's fiction "Caddie Woodlawn." Carol Ryrie attended the University of Idaho but took her bachelor's degree from Berkeley in 1918. Soon after she married; and after living in Europe for a time, she subsequently moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where her husband taught mathematics at the University of Minnesota. While raising two children, Mrs. Brink rediscovered her affinity for writing stories, first found during high school and in college, and was soon writing articles and short stories for local publications. She soon graduated to national publications and then started writing book-length works of fiction, for both adults and children. She was the author of three plays (including one based on the book "Caddie Woodlawn") and twenty-seven novels.

She is the grandmother of production designer Clark Hunter and great-grandmother of actor Andrew Eiden his sister Emily Eiden, an actress, singer Alex Hunter and actress Nora Hunter.

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Carol Ryrie Brink

Writer