| Intro | US writer |
| Was |
Writer Novelist Children’s writer |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Literature |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 23 February 1923, Pratt, Kansas, U.S.A. |
| Death |
12 January 1991, Maywood, Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois (aged 67 years) |
Mary Francis Shura Craig, née Young (23 February 1923 in Pratt, Kansas – 12 January 1991 in Maywood, Illinois) was an American writer of over 50 novels from 1960 to 1990. She wrote children’s adventures and young adult romances as Mary Francis Shura, M. F. Craig, and Meredith Hill; gothic novels as Mary Craig; romance novels as Alexis Hill, Mary Shura Craig and Mary S. Craig; and suspense novels as M. S. Craig.
She was a recipient of the Carl Sandburg Literary Arts Award in 1985, and was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America in 1990.
Biography
Mary Francis Young was born on 23 February 1923 in Pratt, Kansas, the daughter of Jack Fant and Mary Francis (Milstead) Young. She studied at Maryville State College. Her family moved to the Pacific Northwest. On 24 October 1943, she married Daniel Charles Shura, who died in 1959. They had two children: Marianne Francis Shura (Spraguc) and Daniel Charles Shura. On 8 December 1961, she married Raymond C. Craig. They had a daughter Alice Barrett Craig (Stout) before their divorce.
On 12 January 1991, she died of injuries suffered in a fire in her apartment on 13 December 1990.