Betty MacDonald, born Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard in Boulder, Colorado on March 26, 1908, was a renowned children's books novelist, best known for her humorous, autobiographical bestsellers. She was raised in Seattle, moving around the city before settling in the Roosevelt neighborhood where she graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1924. MacDonald's life took a significant turn when she married Robert Eugene Heskett at the age of 20 and moved to a chicken farm in the Olympic Peninsula's Chimacum Valley. This experience would later become the basis for her groundbreaking first book, 'The Egg and I'.
MacDonald's life was marked by various personal and professional milestones. After leaving Heskett in 1931, she returned to Seattle and worked at various jobs to support their daughters Anne and Joan. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1937 and spent nine months at Firland Sanatorium near Seattle for treatment. In 1942, she married Donald C. MacDonald and moved to Vashon Island, where she wrote most of her books. Her writings, particularly 'The Egg and I,' brought her significant fame, selling millions of copies and being translated into 20 languages. The book also introduced the popular characters Ma and Pa Kettle, who were featured in a series of nine films.
MacDonald's work, while celebrated in the 1940s, faced criticism in the 1970s for its stereotypical treatment of Native Americans. She faced two lawsuits, one from a family who claimed she based the Kettles on them and another from a man who claimed to be the model for the Indian character Crowbar. Despite these challenges, MacDonald continued to write, publishing three more semi-autobiographical books and several children's books, including the popular Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series. MacDonald passed away in Seattle on February 7, 1958, after a battle with uterine cancer.