Biography
Eleanor Rachel Therese Spence was born on 21 Oct 1928 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She attended the University of Sydney, gaining her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949. During the next decade she worked as a teacher and as a children's librarian. These experiences led to her interest in writing for young people. Her first novel, Patterson's Track, was published in 1958.
Eleanor Spence was awarded the CBCA Book of the Year in 1964 for The Green Laurel and in 1977 for The October Child. Me and Jeshua and The Family Book of Mary Claire received CBCA commendations, and Seventh Pebble won the Ethel Turner prize. In 1999, Eleanor Spence received the Australia Council for the Arts Emeritus award for her outstanding and livelong contribution to Australian literature. In 2005 she became a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to Australian literature and her services to autism.
She died in Erina, New South Wales on 30 September 2008, aged 79.
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