GERTRUDE DIAMANT (1901-1969) was an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist and book reviewer. She was born in Brook Avenue in the Bronx, New York on July 16, 1901. She attended Barnard Co...voir plusGERTRUDE DIAMANT (1901-1969) was an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist and book reviewer. She was born in Brook Avenue in the Bronx, New York on July 16, 1901. She attended Barnard College, a private women’s liberal arts college in Manhattan, New York City, and graduated in 1924. She went to Mexico with a guidebook in her hand, to see the cathedrals and the fiestas. A chance meeting aroused her interest in giving intelligence tests to Indians. She decided to stay awhile in Mexico, went apartment-hunting, and met the Escoto family, who turned out to be an aspect of Mexican life more interesting than anything yet. Her experiences became the inspiration behind her 1942 bestseller, The Days of Ofelia, in the hopes of others meeting the Mexicans as intimately and informally as she had. Gertrude Diamant passed away in Connecticut on January 5, 1969 at the age of 67.
JOHN O’HARA COSGRAVE II (1908-1968) was an American author and artist. He was born in San Francisco, California, the son of magazine editor John O’Hara Cosgrave. He attended the University of California, and in 1930 began two years of study with artist André Lhote in Paris. On his return to New York, Cosgrave began his career as an author and artist, specializing in writing and illustrating books about boats and ships, for both children and adults. He illustrated books by other authors, including Robert Frost and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, as well as jackets for books by Mario Puzo, Ellery Queen and Harold Robbins, among others. He also served as a graphic designer at the founding of the United Nations, and provided industrial art for magazines such as Life and Forbes. He died at Falmouth, Massachusetts in 1968.voir moins