WHS Authors

“Roots and Wings: Wellesley High’s Legacy of Nurturing Creativity” 

In honor of Katharine Lee Bates (1874), Sylvia Plath (1950), Wilbury Crockett (WHS English teacher 1944-1980, Chair for 30 years), and all WHS writers and teachers past, present, and future. 

This photo, capturing the intensity and commitment of the student-teacher relationship, was taken at Wellesley High School in 1970 and shows the legendary WHS English teacher and Department Chair Wilbury Crockett (whom Sylvia Plath called her “mentor and muse”) with student Linda Barnes (who went on to become a professor and author).

Wellesley has a remarkable literary legacy: that two of the most prominent and best known women writers of the 20th century called this town home.  Katharine Lee Bates and Sylvia Plath both achieved international renown, and always paid tribute to the extraordinary inspiration and support they received from Wellesley High School.  Plath inscribed the only volume of poetry published during her lifetime “For Mr. Crockett — in whose classroom and wisdom these poems have root.”  

     But Wellesley’s unique contribution to literature also includes the equally compelling story of many other extraordinary writers who began their work in WHS classrooms.  For generations, the commitment of WHS’ English teachers to nurturing young students’ creativity has become deeply enmeshed in the department’s mission.  The teachers of this town have produced hundreds of writers, from Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winners to a #1 “New York Times” bestseller.  

     This is an important time for a celebration of WHS authors, and of the remarkable legacy of the school and teachers who have embraced, challenged, and inspired them.  So WHS grad/author Beth Hinchliffe and longtime WHS English teacher Jeanie Goddard have organized “Roots and Wings:  Wellesley High’s Legacy of Nurturing Creativity.”

The project will have two parts, being planned in consultation with another longtime WHS English teacher (and Department Chair) Brooks Goddard, and award-winning novelist Nina Shope: 

1.  A master list of WHS writers in every field (fiction, nonfiction, scriptwriting, journalism, poetry, etc.), along with their publications and awards.  This will be an ongoing project housed here on the Wellesley Free Library website.  Please send names and information to:  Beth.Hinchliffe@aol.com
2.  An event, to be held at the Wellesley Free Library on October 11, where a panel of WHS teachers and writers will discuss both their own journeys at WHS, and also the urgent importance of continuing to commit to this priority in the future.  Details forthcoming. 

The organizers are grateful to the outstanding team of the Wellesley Free Library (especially Library Director Jamie Jurgensen and Assistant Director Cara Rothman) for their enthusiasm and support.

Over the past 30 years alone, a sampling of WHS authors include: 

• the current U.S. Ambassador to China (and prolific writer)
• a #1 “New York Times” Bestseller
• multiple winners of Pulitzer Prizes, Emmy Awards, National Book Awards, Humanitas Prizes, and Writers’ Guild of America Awards
• a “Saturday Night Live” regular cast member and writer who then developed and wrote her own TV show
• two Presidential Speechwriters at the White House (one for each party)
• critically acclaimed writers of experimental fiction, children’s books, thrillers (including international bestsellers), journalism, and poetry
• industry recognized writers for “Desperate Housewives,” “Frasier,” “Touched by an Angel,” “The Dog Whisperer,” “Breaking Bad,” and “Mad Men” (the last two were a WHS brother and sister, who competed for an Emmy)
• award-winning playwrights whose plays have been produced in three countries
• writers whose books or lives (including a memoir by an international drug smuggler/WHS grad) were turned into movies

“Roots and Wings” honors all WHS writers and teachers, and begins by commemorating the three who inspired this work:  Katharine Lee Bates (Class of 1874), Sylvia Plath (Class of 1950), and Wilbury Crockett (WHS English teacher 1944-1980, Chair for 30 years).  For further reading, here are links to three articles about each of their relationships with Wellesley: 

• Katharine Lee Bates
• Sylvia Plath
• Wilbury Crockett  

Wellesley High School Authors