Sarton, May

Sarton, (Eleanor) May

(1912–  ) poet, writer; born in Wondelgem, Belgium (daughter of George Sarton). She grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and attended Shady Hill School (1917–26). She published poetry early, trained at the Civic Repertory Theatre in New York City (1929–33), and traveled widely. A noted teacher at many institutions, she is known for her poetry, short stories, novels, and memoirs, such as Endgame: A Journal of the Seventy-Ninth Year (1992). She settled in York, Maine, and in her later years became something of a cult figure to a circle of women.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.