Shirley Hardie Jackson was one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century who wrote over one hundred short stories, novels, plays, and articles. Through the years Shirley's writing habit's progressed. In college she began writing articles for the campus magazines. After college Shirley got married and began her writing career, writing short stories for popular magazines. Eventually Shirley became a mother of four. She played the role of a housewife, a mom, and an author. As the years went by Shirley spent time between both her children's activities and in her writing. As time went on Shirley's life began to slow down. She wasn't able to produce as much writings as she use to. She eventually died in her sleep.
Shirley Hardie Jackson was born into an upper middle-class family on December 14, 1919 in San Francisco, California. Her father, Leslie Hardie Jackson was a British born Lithograph company executive. Shirley's mother, Geraldine Bugbee Jackson was a descendant from a family of very well known architects. (Alessio 114). Just two years after she was born her parents had another child named Barry. When Shirley was six and her brother was four, the Jackson family moved from San Francisco to a suburban town 30 miles away called Burlingame (Hall 18). .
Shirley's first exposure to literature was with her grandmother who would read her Edgar Allan Poe stories. Shirley became interested in literature and started to go to the library quite often (Alessio 115). At the age of twelve, Shirley won a prize for her poem " The Pine Tree" which was entered into a contest for the "Junior Home Magazine". (Hall 18) When Shirley was in junior high, she began to keep a diary where she kept all of her writing's (Burn 378). "She wrote about her daily activities, including time spent playing the piano and with her best friend, Dorothy, as well as her desire to be thinner and kinder to others. Shirley also recorded her earliest thoughts on superstition and the supernatural.
