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Doris Burn

1923 – 2011

Children's book author and illustrator

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About Doris Burn

Lived 1923 – 2011 (aged 87). Doris Burn was an American writer, children's writer and illustrator.

Doris "Doe" Burn (born Doris Wernstedt; April 24, 1923 – March 9, 2011) was an American children's book author and illustrator. She lived most of her life on Waldron Island in the San Juan Islands archipelago of Washington.

Life and career Doris Wernstedt was born in Portland, Oregon, to Lage Wernstedt, an explorer, mountaineer and United States Forest Service worker, and his wife, Adele. The family resided on Guemes Island near Anacortes. After being interviewed by writer June Burn for the Bellingham Herald, the Wernstedt and Burn families became friends; the two families had nearby summer cabins on Waldron, a small island without ferry service. Waldron Island was without electricity, telephone service, running water or merchants. All of her goods and supplies were brought by boat from the mainland. In 1956, Burn took a portfolio of illustrations to publishers in New York and was encouraged to continue working. Her children remember her working late nights by lantern-light with the fireplace burning down to embers. She went on to write The Summerfolk and The Tale of Lazy Lizard Canyon, and illustrated eight others.

Death Doris "Doe" Burn died at her daughter's home in Bellingham, Washington on March 9, 2011, at the age of 87. The collection is made available by Western Libraries Heritage Resources.

Works

Author and illustrator

Fortieth Anniversary Edition. (2005) Woodinville, WA: San Juan Publishing. ,

Illustrator Joseph Jacobs. Hudden and Dudden and Donald O'Neary. New York: Coward-McCann. 1968 Robert Nathan. Tappy. Knopf. 1968 Liesel Moak Skorpen. We Were Tired of Living in a House. New York: Coward-McCann. 1969 Patricia Lee Gauch. My Old Tree. New York: Coward-McCann. 1970 Patricia Lee Gauch. Christina Katerina & the Box. New York: Putnam & Grosset. 1971 Oscar Brand, When I Came First to this Land. New York: G. B. Putnam's. 1974

Film Actor Zach Braff has been adapting Andrew Henry's Meadow into a film for Twentieth Century Fox since 2004. Barry Sonnenfeld signed on to direct the film in early 2010.

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Education
University of Oregon, University of Hawaiʻi System, University of Washington

People in Doris Burn's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Doris Burn's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Doris Burn?

children's book author and illustrator (1923–2011)

When was Doris Burn born?

Doris Burn was born on 24 April 1923 in Portland.

When did Doris Burn die?

Doris Burn died on 9 March 2011 in Bellingham.

What was Doris Burn's occupation?

Doris Burn was a writer, children's writer and illustrator.

What nationality was Doris Burn?

Doris Burn was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Doris Burn

· Wikidata: Q5297906

· DBpedia: Doris Burn

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Doris Burn. https://biography.guide/doris-burn/

MLA: "Doris Burn." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/doris-burn/.

Chicago: "Doris Burn." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/doris-burn/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence

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