Faith's Fans (1)

Faith McNulty

Author profile

born

November 28, 1918 in New York, NY, The United States

died

April 10, 2005

gender

female

genre

Children's Books, Nonfiction

About this author

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Faith McNulty was an American non-fiction author, probably best-known for her 1980 book The Burning Bed. She was born "Faith Corrigan" in New York City, the daughter of a judge. Young Faith attended Barnard College for one year, then attended Rhode Island State College. But she dropped out of college once she got a job as a copy girl at the New York Daily News. She later went to work for Life magazine. She worked for the U.S. Office of War Information in London during World War II.

McNulty was a wildlife writer at The New Yorker magazine for several years. In 1980, a collection of her New Yorker work was published as The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty. For many years, she edited the annual New Yorker compilation of the year's best childre...more Faith McNulty was an American non-fiction author, probably best-known for her 1980 book The Burning Bed. She was born "Faith Corrigan" in New York City, the daughter of a judge. Young Faith attended Barnard College for one year, then attended Rhode Island State College. But she dropped out of college once she got a job as a copy girl at the New York Daily News. She later went to work for Life magazine. She worked for the U.S. Office of War Information in London during World War II.

McNulty was a wildlife writer at The New Yorker magazine for several years. In 1980, a collection of her New Yorker work was published as The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty. For many years, she edited the annual New Yorker compilation of the year's best children's books.

She also frequently wrote children's books on wildlife, including "How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World" in 1979 and "When I Lived With Bats" in 1998. Her 1966 book "The Whooping Crane: The Bird that Defies Distinction" was written for adults.

Her husband, John McNulty, was also a writer for The New Yorker and with Thomas Wolf, Truman Capote and Gay Talese, a major figure in the development of the literary genre of creative nonfiction, which is also known as literary journalism or literature in fact. After her husband died in 1956, she remarried, to Richard Martin, a set designer and an inventive designer of set props.

The Burning Bed told the true story of Francine Hughes, who set fire to the bedroom in which her husband was sleeping. Hughes defended herself by saying that her husband had been abusing her for 13 years. The jury at her trial ruled that she had been temporarily insane, and she was found not guilty.

I can remember my father in his nightshirt, digging for worms for the baby robin in the bathroom. That's the kind of household it was; I had woodchucks in the bathroom, cats, squirrels, chipmunks, McNulty once said.

Towards the end of her life, she wrote a weekly column for The Providence Journal on a local animal shelter run by the Animal Welfare League. Her mother had founded the Animal Welfare League in southern Rhode Island. McNulty had long been known for taking in stray animals at her farm.

She suffered a stroke in 2004. She died at her farm in Wakefield, Rhode Island.

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combine editions
Books by Faith McNulty

Average rating: 4.15 · 585 ratings · 97 reviews · 30 distinct works

	Burning Bed: The True Story of an Abused Wife 4.14 avg rating — 232 ratings — published 1980 — 5 editions	My rating:
	If You Decide To Go To The Moon by Faith McNulty, Steven Kellogg (Illustrator) 3.91 avg rating — 100 ratings — published 2005 — 2 editions	My rating:
	How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty, Marc Simont (Illustrations) 4.32 avg rating — 57 ratings — published 1979 — 8 editions	My rating:
	The Lady and the Spider by Faith McNulty, Bob Marstall (Illustrations) 4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 1986 — 4 editions	My rating:
	If Dogs Ruled The World (level 3) by Faith McNulty, Julie Durrell (Illustrations) 4.25 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2002	My rating:
	Mouse And Tim 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	My rating:
	Dancing With Manatees (level 4) by Faith McNulty, Lena Shiffman (Illustrations) 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 1994 — 2 editions	My rating:
	How Whales Walked Into the Sea by Faith McNulty, Ted Rand (Illustrator) 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1999 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Endangered Animals (level 3) by Faith McNulty, Carol Schwartz (Illustrations) 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1996	My rating:
	A Snake in the House by Faith McNulty (Author), Ted Rand (Illustrator) 3.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1994 — 2 editions	My rating: