Helen Steiner Rice

Helen Steiner Rice (May 19, 1900 – April 23, 1981) was an American writer of both inspirational and Christian poetry.

Biography Helen Steiner was born in Lorain, Ohio on May 19, 1900. While still in high school Helen planned to attend college. However, after her father, a railroad worker, died in the influenza epidemic of 1918, the same year she graduated from Lorain High School, she had to change plans. After graduation, she began work for the Lorain Electric Light and Power Company and progressed to the position of advertising manager, which was rare for a woman at that time. She also became the Ohio State Chairwoman of the Women's Public Information Committee of the Electric Light Association, and campaigned for women's rights and improved working conditions. Eventually she opened her own speaking engagement business where she continued to promote her business advise as advocating for women in the workplace.

She has been described the "poet laureate of the greeting‐card world".

She died on the evening of April 23, 1981, at age 80, and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Lorain, Ohio.

Pope John Paul II, President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn were admirers of her artistry.

Legacy She posthumously received the International Greeting Card Award in 1990 at the Second Annual International Greeting Card Awards ("the Louie) for her decades of work at Gibson Greetings.

Rice was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1992 for her contributions to the arts, music, and journalism. The public demand for her poetry books continued into at least the late 1990s.