Rozanne
Ruth "R. R." Knudson (June 1, 1932 - May 3, 2008) was an author whose stories about girls and women in sports, particularly her series of “Zan” novels, heralded the lowering of gender barriers on the playing field.Partner May Swenson, Carole Berglie
Queer Places:
Brigham Young University, Campus Dr, Provo, UT 84602
Stanford University, Old Union 232, Stanford, CA 94305
MacDowell Colony, 100 High St, Peterborough, NH 03458
73 The Blvd, Sea Cliff, NY 11579
10 Highland Ave, Sea Cliff, NY 11579
2512 Boca Ciega Dr N, St. Petersburg, FL 33710
Rozanne
Ruth "R. R." Knudson (June 1, 1932 - May 3, 2008) was an author whose stories about girls and women in sports, particularly her series of “Zan” novels, heralded the lowering of gender barriers on the playing field.
Knudson wrote more than 40 books. But she is best known, particularly among teenage girls, for the four “Zan” books. Published in the years after the passage of Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibited federal funding for education programs that discriminate on the basis of sex, including sports, the series called on young women to eschew cheerleader skirts and pompoms. Its central character, Suzanne Hagen, nicknamed Zan, is a fun-loving all-around athlete. The first in the series, “Zanballer” (Delacorte, 1972), was based on Knudson’s own experience as a high school girl in Alexandria, VA. She had spent the summer of 1946 honing her basketball skills. But just as the basketball season was about to begin, the school gymnasium floor was torn up because it had warped. The boys’ team was bused to practice at a local Y.M.C.A. All that was left for the girls was a dance class. “I organized the girls to leave class and play football” on the only other available field, Knudson told The New York Times in 1985. “Zanbanger” (Harper, 1977) is about a girl who does get to play basketball, and “Zanboomer” (Harper, 1978), is about a girl who runs track. The last book in the series, “Zan Hagen’s Marathon” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1984), recounts the fictional character’s competition with real-life athletes like Joan Benoit and Grete Waitz in the women’s marathon at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, the first women’s marathon in the 88-year history of the modern games. In the book Zan wins; in reality, Benoit took the gold. In a review of “Zan Hagen’s Marathon,” The Times said of Knudson, “She’s never balked at depicting in females what used to be prejudged beyond their capabilities and even outside their rights.” Knudson’s 1974 book, “Fox Running” (Avon), is about an Apache girl who runs a sub-four-minute mile at the Olympics.
Rozanne Ruth Knudson was born in Washington on June 1, 1932, one of six children of James Knudson and Ruth Ellsworth. Knudson spent some time in high school in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1954, she graduated with a BA from Brigham Young University and later received an MA from the University of Georgia in 1955. After teaching English at Key West High School, 1957—1958, Miami Edison Junior High School, 1958—1960, and being Instructor at Stanford University, 1960—1963, Adelphi University, 1963—1964, Purdue University, 1965—1967, she received a Ph.D. from Stanford in 1967. She was Supervisor at Hicksville (Long Island) Schools, 1967—1970. She later taught English at Purdue, Adelphi and York College of the City University of New York. It was at York that Knudson’s writing career began. She had assembled an anthology of sports poetry in an effort to spark the interest of her students. When she suggested to an editor that she put together another collection, she was told: “No, I want you to write me a sports novel. There aren’t any women writing about women athletes.” Knudson, who played baseball, tennis and football as a young woman, was a jogger well into her 60s.
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
In addition, Knudson also wrote biographies of famous sports stars and collaborated with nationally prominent poet, May Swenson, on a collection of sports poems. When Swenson’s relationship with Pearl Schwartz ended sometime in the mid-1960s, she started a relationship with Knudson. In the fall of 1967, Swenson and Knudson bought a cedar summer cottage on the North Shore of Long Island, in the village of Sea Cliff. Swenson had met Zan Knudson while the former was working as writer-in-residence at Purdue University in 1966. Knudson was the executor of the literary estate of Swenson.
Knudson was a fellow of MacDowell Colony, Center Creative Arts of Ragdale, Dorland Mountain Colony, Cummington Community Arts, Hambidge Center, Villa Montalvo, and was a visiting scholar at Stanford University. She was writer in residence at Kean College, New Jersey, and Speaker at the Women Sports Conference Evergreen State College, Washington.
Knudson died on May 3, 2008, at her home in St. Petersburg, FL. She was 75 and also lived in Sea Cliff, N.Y. The cause was cancer, her partner, Carole Berglie, said.
My published books:
