Chickens, Gin, and a Maine Friendship

E. B. White (1899–1985) was an American writer. For more than fifty years, he was a contributor to The New Yorker magazine. He was also a co-author of the English language style guide The Elements of Style. In addition, he wrote books for children, including Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan. In a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, Charlotte's Web was voted the top children's novel. He lived for much of his life in Brooklin, Maine. Edmund Ware Smith (1900–1967) wrote more than 600 short stories and essays, many of which were gathered into a total of nine books about the Maine woods and its characters. He lived in Damariscotta, Maine. Martha White, the granddaughter of E.B. White, is a writer and editor who lives on the coast of Maine. A longtime contributing editor to Yankee Magazine and The Old Farmer's Almanac, her work has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Early American Life, Country Journal, Down East Magazine, and numerous other national magazines and small presses. She lives in Damariscotta, Maine. .