Author Beverly Cleary, A Northwest Native, Turns 101

SEATTLE, WA - The celebrated children's and young adult author Beverly Cleary turned 101 on Wednesday. Cleary is a Pacific Northwest native and a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle. She is probably best known for her series of books featuring the characters Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins, as well as classics like "Dear Mr. Henshaw" and "Ramona the Brave."

Cleary was born in 1916 and spent the early part of her life living on a farm in Yamhill, Ore., before her family moved to Portland when she was six. After high school, Cleary attended the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a bachelor's degree. She graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in library science in 1939, and later worked as a librarian in Yakima briefly.

Cleary published her first book "Henry Huggins" in 1950. That book led Cleary to write a series based around Ramona Quimby, the younger sister of Huggins' friend, Beezus. She has written more than 40 books during her career, although she has stopped writing recently.

"I even got rid of my typewriter," she told the Associated Press. "It was a nice one but I hate to type. When I started writing I found that I was thinking more about my typing than what I was going to say, so I wrote it long hand.”

Image via Gerald Hebert/Associated Press