Joan Lowery Nixon
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Joan Lowery Nixon (1927-2003) was a prolific American journalist and author, specializing in historical fiction and mysteries for children and young adults. She also co-authored popular science books with her husband, geologist Hershell Nixon.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Nixon received a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. She taught for a time in the Los Angeles city schools, before becoming a full-time writer. Nixon's juveniles were noted for frequently having strong and self-sufficient girls and women as lead characters.
Nixon won four Edgar Allen Poe Awards from the Mystery Writers of America (and had five additional nominations), and twice won the California Young Reader Medal of the California Library Association. She also twice won the Western Writers of America's Golden Spur Award, and received the Texas Institute of Letters Award. She is the only person ever to win the Edgar for Best Juvenile Mystery four times.
Nixon died of pancreatic cancer on June 28, 2003, in Houston, Texas.