Early Life
Mahy was born in 1936; she was the eldest of five children. She was raised in her birthplace of Whakatane. Her father was a bridge builder and often told his children adventure stories which later influenced Mahy's writing. Her mother was a teacher. She wrote her first published story when she was seven, called "Harry Is Bad". She showed it to her class to let them know that they could write a story whatever their age.
She went to the local high school, where she was acknowledged as a talented swimmer.
Read more about this topic: Margaret Mahy
Famous quotes related to early life:
“Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)