Author. Born to distinguished parents, Samuel Gridley and Julia Ward Howe, she was surrounded by language and arts all of her life. Her namesake was her father's famous pupil, Laura Bridgman. At age twenty-one she married Henry Richards. During this time they had their first three children and she began to write and sing. Surrounded by the babies the rhymes came easy for her and her style of non-sense verses developed. When Henry accepted a management position with his family's paper mill they moved to Gardiner, Maine. The home they purchased and painted yellow is to this day aptly named Yellow House. Their next four children were born here. In 1880 she had her first three books published, with several more volumes to follow throughout the 1880's. In 1891 she published "Captain January", which was later adapted into a movie starring Shirley Temple. She was very active in Gardiner starting several clubs, a philanthropic union, and the Gardiner Library Association. In 1900 she founded Camp Merryweather with her husband. Situated on Great Pond, in Belgrade this was the first summer camp for boys in Maine and ran until the outbreak of World War II. Laura wrote several biographies later in her life including, each of her parents, Florence Nightingale, and Laura Bridgman. The biography of her mother, "Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910", which she co-authored with her sister Maud Howe Elliot, won her the first Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1918. In 1932 she published "Tirra Lirra: New Rhymes and Old". During the course of her life she wrote over 90 books. Laura died at Yellow House.
Author. Born to distinguished parents, Samuel Gridley and Julia Ward Howe, she was surrounded by language and arts all of her life. Her namesake was her father's famous pupil, Laura Bridgman. At age twenty-one she married Henry Richards. During this time they had their first three children and she began to write and sing. Surrounded by the babies the rhymes came easy for her and her style of non-sense verses developed. When Henry accepted a management position with his family's paper mill they moved to Gardiner, Maine. The home they purchased and painted yellow is to this day aptly named Yellow House. Their next four children were born here. In 1880 she had her first three books published, with several more volumes to follow throughout the 1880's. In 1891 she published "Captain January", which was later adapted into a movie starring Shirley Temple. She was very active in Gardiner starting several clubs, a philanthropic union, and the Gardiner Library Association. In 1900 she founded Camp Merryweather with her husband. Situated on Great Pond, in Belgrade this was the first summer camp for boys in Maine and ran until the outbreak of World War II. Laura wrote several biographies later in her life including, each of her parents, Florence Nightingale, and Laura Bridgman. The biography of her mother, "Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910", which she co-authored with her sister Maud Howe Elliot, won her the first Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1918. In 1932 she published "Tirra Lirra: New Rhymes and Old". During the course of her life she wrote over 90 books. Laura died at Yellow House.
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