Date of birth: 23 February 1923
Date of death: 12 January 1991
Website:

Mary Francis Young was born on 23 February 1923 in Pratt, Kansas, the daughter of Jack Fant and Mary Francis (Milstead) Young. When she was very young, her family moved to the Pacific Northwest, where she raised. She studied at Maryville State College. 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.

Since 1960, she wrote over 50 books of various genres: children's adventures and teen-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.

Her children's novel "The Search for Grissi" received the Carl Sandburg Literary Arts Award in 1985, and she also was nominated to the Young Hoosier Book Award. In 1990, she was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America.

She lived in Hinsdale, Illinois, where her apartment apartment burned on 13 December 1990. At 67, she died of injuries suffered in the fire on 12 January 1991 in Loyola University Medical Burn Center in Maywood.

More Authors

Venkatarama Krishnan

VENKATARAMA KRISHNAN, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Previously, he has taught at Smith College, the Indian Institute of Science, Polytechnic University, the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University and Prince...

Leo De Freyne

Leo de Freyne was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1952. He has lived in Ireland, England, Spain, China, Poland, Oman and Kazakhstan. He is also a visual artist. His website is www.leodefreyne.com...

John Faithfull Fleet

[English] John Faithfull Fleet (1847 – 1917) was an English civil servant with the Indian Civil Services. He became known as a historian, epigraphist and linguist.

[Français] John Faithfull Fleet (1847 - 1917) était un fonctionnaire britannique avec l'Indian Civil Service. Il étai...

June-Elleni Laine

June-Elleni Laine has been connecting with spirit using art for over 17 years. She teaches at London’s College Of Psychic Studies and runs a schedule of courses workshops and retreats sharing how art can help us to connect. She is the author of the first book on developing psychic art and oft...