Lois Duncan

Lois Duncan Steinmetz (April 28, 1934 – June 15, 2016), known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pioneering figure in the development of young-adult fiction, particularly in the genres of horror, thriller, and suspense. She received the 1992 Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association for her contribution to writing for teens. and Joseph Janney Steinmetz. Duncan had one younger brother, William Janney "Billy" Steinmetz. The following autumn, she enrolled at Duke University, but dropped out in 1953 to start a family with Joseph Cardozo, a fellow student she had met at the university. followed by Debutante Hill in 1959; While teaching, Duncan enrolled in classes at the university, earning her Bachelor of Arts in English in 1977.

In 1970, she published the historical novel Peggy, chronicling the life of Peggy Shippen, followed by the 1971 children's book Hotel for Dogs, which was later adapted as a 2009 film of the same name starring Emma Roberts.

Suspense and horror novels Influenced by her own interest in the supernatural and speculative fiction, Duncan wrote various suspense and horror novels aimed for teenagers. After the publication of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Duncan wrote Down a Dark Hall (1974), a Gothic novel following four students at an isolated and mysterious boarding school. In 1976, she published the supernatural horror novel Summer of Fear, which was also adapted into a 1978 film by director Wes Craven.

In 1978, Duncan published the controversial Killing Mr. Griffin, a novel that details three high-school students' murder of their English teacher. Critic Margery Fisher noted Duncan's "unreserved" approach to writing the novel, in language she described as both "harsh and literal." Richard Peck of The New York Times also praised the novel, writing: "Duncan breaks some new ground in a novel without sex, drugs, or black leather jackets, but the taboo she tampers with is far more potent and pervasive: the unleashed fury of the permissively reared against any assault on their egos and authority ... The value of the book lies in the twisted logic of the teenagers and how easily they can justify anything." Killing Mr. Griffin was one of Duncan's major critical successes, and was selected as an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults that year.

In the 1980s, Duncan would publish several more horror novels with supernatural themes, including Stranger with My Face (1981), about a teenage girl's experiences with astral projection, and The Third Eye (1984), also with psychic themes. In 1985, she wrote another suspense novel, Locked in Time.

Later works In 1988 and 1989, Duncan published the thriller novels The Twisted Window and Don't Look Behind You, respectively. From 1987 to 1989, Duncan wrote several picture books for young children, some paired with audio CDs of songs for children, including Songs from Dreamland, Dream Songs from Yesterday, Our Beautiful Day, and The Story of Christmas.

After the murder of her youngest daughter, Kaitlyn, in 1989, she only wrote one more horror novel, a supernatural thriller titled Gallows Hill (1997). The murder of Duncan's daughter marked a shift in her writing, and she spent the remainder of her career writing thematically lighter material, mainly children's chapter and picture books.

Beginning in 2010, ten of Duncan's most successful teen novels were updated for a new generation and re-released in paperback with modern cover designs. For the new editions, Duncan gave characters updated wardrobes, more contemporary dialogue, and access to technologies such as cell phones.

Personal life Duncan had three children with her first husband, Joseph Cardozo: daughters Robin and Kerry, and son Brett. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1962. In 1965, she married Donald Arquette, an electrical engineer; they had two children: son Donald, Jr., and daughter Kaitlyn.

In 1989, the youngest of Duncan's children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was only 18. Lois Duncan released ' Who Killed My Daughter? After her daughter's death, Duncan began writing children's picture books, saying that she could no longer write about young women in life-threatening situations. On February 21, 2022, Apodaca was indicted in the murder of Arquette. He was convicted in January 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

Death On June 15, 2016, at the age of 82, Duncan died at her home in Bradenton, Florida, of undisclosed causes. Her husband, Donald Arquette Sr., noted that Duncan had suffered a series of strokes in the years prior. As noted by Emily Langer of The Washington Post, Duncan often "plucked her characters from normalcy and placed them in extraordinary, often dark circumstances," in contrast to her contemporaries such as Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, and Robert Cormier.

The ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award recognizes one writer and a particular body of work for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". Duncan won the annual award in 1992 and the Young Adult Librarians now name six books published from 1966 to 1987, the autobiographical Chapters and five novels: Ransom, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Summer of Fear, Killing Mr. Griffin, and The Twisted Window. The citation observes, "Whether accepting responsibility for the death of an English teacher or admitting to their responsibility for a hit-and-run accident, Duncan's characters face a universal truth—your actions are important and you are responsible for them."

Works

Anthologies edited Night Terrors (1996) Trapped! (1998) On the Edge (2000)

Audiobooks Dream Songs from Yesterday (1987), Silver Moon Prod. Debutante Hill (1958), Dodd, Mead and Co. A Promise for Joyce (1959), Funk & Wagnalls † The Middle Sister (1960), Dodd, Mead and Co. ill. Arvis Stewart I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973), Little, Brown and Co. Don't Look Behind You (1989), Delacorte Gallows Hill (1997), Delacorte ‡ News for Dogs (2009), Scholastic Movie for Dogs (2010), Scholastic

† As Lois Kerry ‡ Works that have been adapted into films

Nonfiction How to Write and Sell Your Personal Experiences (1979), Writer's Digest Books Chapters: My Growth as a Writer (1982), Little, Brown and Co. Who Killed My Daughter? (1992), Delacorte Psychic Connections (1995), Duncan and William Roll One to the Wolves (2013) sequel to Who Killed My Daughter

Picture and chapter books The Littlest One in the Family (1959), illustrated by Suzanne K. Larsen