Jeannette Eyerly (1908 - 2008 )
« "If you love me, you will," he said. And because she loved him, she did."*
Eyerly's books are full of unexpected pregnancies, mental illnesses, addictions, and crimes - all possible troubles faced by teenagers. Through presenting such subjects in an open manner, the writer hopes to provide guidance to young adults.**
Born in Topeka, Kansas, she was educated at Drake University in Des Moines and the University of Iowa. In addition to writing, Eyerly has been a teacher, a lay psychiatrist, a volunteer for various causes as well as a wife, mother, grandmother, and sister. All roles, she says, helped develop her fiction in one way or another.***
Among her works are "More Than a Summer Love" (1962), "Radigan Cares" (1970), "If I Loved You Wednesday" (1980), and "Someone to Love Me" in which a 15 year-old girl chooses to keep her baby. In 1978, Eyerly's "He's My Baby, Now" (1977) was adapted into an ABC Afterschool Special.
* Someone to Love Me (Lippincott, 1987)
** "Eyerly, Jeanette (Hyde)." Contemporary Authors: New Revision Series, Volume 51. 1981 ed.
*** Ibid (as cited in).