Gloria D. Miklowitz

May 18, 1927 - January 20, 2015 Gloria D. Miklowitz, author of more than 60 novels and non-fiction books for children and young adults, passed away on January 20 in Pasadena after a long illness. She was 87. She is survived by her two sons, Paul and David, their wives Marija and Mary, and by two granddaughters, Sabina and Ariana. Born Gloria Elaine Dubov in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn in 1927, Gloria attended the University of Michigan, where she met Julius Miklowitz, her husband of 44 years. An English major in college, Gloria nurtured her curiosity and developed her writing talent as a journalist and later as a scriptwriter for Navy training films. When Julius accepted a position as professor of applied mechanics at Caltech in 1956 and the couple started a family in southern California, Gloria began her own career as a writer of children's books and young adult fiction and non-fiction. Many of her YA novels explored social and moral problems-nuclear disaster, rape and abortion, race relations, and issues relating to Jewish cultural history (the Conversos of Spain during the Inquisition, the fate of the doomed resistance fighters at Masada). Three of her novels were made into TV movies. She was an active member of PEN and the Writer's Guild. Gloria was adventuresome and travelled widely, including trips to the Peruvian rain forest and the Arctic Circle in February. After Julius's death from multiple sclerosis in 1992, she organized summer trips to Italy and France with her sons and their families. Everyone who knew her loved and admired her exciting vitality, her can-do spirit and her genuine interest in and compassion for other people's lives. She will be greatly missed. A private memorial service will be held for family and close friends.