Biographical Statement

Muriel Fuller was born Olive Muiriel Fuller to David J. and Olive Beatrice Fuller on August 25, 1901 in Brooklyn, New York; near the East River. Her family would spend summers in New England near the foot of Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire and in East Northfield, Massachusetts. Eventually, the family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where she graduated from Asheville High School. Following high school, Fuller attended Philadelphia Business College where she received a degree in business and later at Wheaton College where she earned a bachelor of arts. It was in her senior year at Wheaton that she changed her name from “Muiriel to “Muriel,” a more common spelling of her mother’s maiden name, “Muir.” With Wheaton behind her, Muriel continued to take courses at other schools such as Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Pulitzer School of Journalism at Columbia, and New York University, but never received another degree. Throughout her life, Muriel was a lover of books and declared at a young age that she would become a dramatic critic and book reviewer. Intermingled during her years of schooling, she pursued this interest by working for the Chicago Daily News, and upon college graduation, worked on the editorial staff of Rand McNally and Company. Other organizations include Book Company, Child Life, Redbook, New York World and World-Telegram, Thomas Nelson and Sons, and Publishers’ Weekly. The work experiences that Muriel acquired enabled her to become a writer. In 1927, she wrote John Muir of Wall Street, a biography on her grandfather. She also wrote or co-authored The Book of Dragons (1931), Marko, the King’s Son: Hero of the Serbs (1932), Lady Editor (1941), The Zodiac Birthday Book (1945), The Runaway Shuttle Train (1946), Favorite Old Fairy Tales (1949), The Babysitter’s Story Book (1960), and More Junior Authors (1963). Along with advancing her own writing career, Muriel Fuller helped bring others to prominence. She found publishers for Margaret Landon (her former college roommate), who authored Anna and the King of Siam and Never Dies the Dream. Muriel also assisted Frank Yerby, who wrote The Foxes of Harrow (which was dedicated to Fuller). Her generosity to others was exemplified through 15 books which were dedicated to her in name. Fuller died in 1996.

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