Ruth Jean Dale

Betty Lee Duran (March 10, 1939 – September 11, 2022) was an American writer of romance novels. She started writing as Ruth Jean Dale, and now then wrote as Lee Duran.

Ruth Jean Dale's books have been translated into many foreign languages, including French, Spanish, German, Polish, Greek, Italian, Russian and Chinese. She has made frequent appearances on romance best seller lists, and was nominated a "Top Ten Favorite Author" by Affaire de Coeur magazine.

Duran retired temporarily in 2000 after her husband suffered a stroke. After his death in 2008, she returned to writing under her own name: Lee Duran.

Duran died on September 11, 2022.

Biography Betty Lee Duran was born in the Ozark Mountains, Missouri. She traveled throughout the U.S. during her childhood. She studied Journalism in her native Missouri. She served in the U.S. Navy, and married a U.S. Marine in 1960. She worked as a newspaper reporter in California, with her husband. In 1984, she suffered a brain aneurysm, followed by three brain surgeries.

Duran sold her first novel as Ruth Jean Dale on July 8, 1988. She also collaborated with her friend, the writer Margaret Brownley. They sold a two-year story projection to the CBS soap, As The World Turns. Duran retired temporarily in 2000 after her husband suffered a stroke. Following his death in 2008, she returned to writing under her own name: Lee Duran.