- Born
- Died
- Birth nameCaroline Ryrie
- Caroline Ryrie was the daughter of a Scots immigrant who became the first mayor of the town of Moscow, Idaho, and his wife, the daughter of a pioneer medical doctor. Early orphaned, Carol, as she was called, was reared by her maternal grandmother Caroline Augusta Woodhouse Watkins and her two maiden aunts; they were all skilled and descriptive storytellers, and in particular, Mrs. Watkins's stories about growing up in the Wisconsin woods were the basis of a number of books and short stories, including the 1935 Newbery Award winning work of children's fiction "Caddie Woodlawn." Carol Ryrie attended the University of Idaho but took her bachelor's degree from Berkeley in 1918. Soon after she married; and after living in Europe for a time, she subsequently moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where her husband taught mathematics at the University of Minnesota. While raising two children, Mrs. Brink rediscovered her affinity for writing stories, first found during high school and in college, and was soon writing articles and short stories for local publications. She soon graduated to national publications and then started writing book-length works of fiction, for both adults and children. She was the author of three plays (including one based on the book "Caddie Woodlawn") and twenty-seven novels.
She is the grandmother of production designer Clark Hunter and great-grandmother of actor Andrew Eiden his sister Emily Eiden, an actress, singer Alex Hunter and actress Nora Hunter.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jane Margaret Laight
- SpouseRaymond Woodard Brink(June 12, 1918 - December 27, 1973) (his death, 2 children)
- Is a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority
- In her hometown of Moscow, Idaho, a local nature park and a building on the campus of the University of Idaho bear her name.
- Her novels won several awards, including the John Newberry Award (1936, "Caddie Woodlawn"); the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1959, for "Caddie Woodlawn"); the Friends of American Writers Award (1955, for "The Headland"); the McKnight Family Foundation Medal (1966, for "Snow in the River"); the National League of American Pen Women Award (1966, for "Snow in the River"); the Southern California Council of Literature for Children and Young People Award (1966); and the Kerland Award (1978, for "Four Girls on a Homestead").
- She received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Idaho in 1965.
- She is the grandmother of playwright Susan C. Hunter and artist Anne Carol Brink. She is part of a long familial line of "Carolines". Her grandmother was Caroline Woodhouse Watkins (famous as Caddie Woodlawn), her aunt was Caroline Elsie Watkins, her daughter is Nora Caroline Brink Hunter, her granddaughters are Susan Carol Hunter Eiden and Anne Carol Brink, her great granddaughter is Emily Caroline Eiden Murphy, and her great-great granddaughter is Caroline (Caddie) Maisie Murphy. There is a table known as the Caroline Table that is handed down to the eldest Carol or Caroline in each generation.
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