Walter Franklin Prince

Walter Dean Myers (born Walter Milton Myers; August 12, 1937 – July 1, 2014) was an American writer best known for young adult literature. He was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and raised in Harlem, New York City. A difficult childhood inspired him to write, and his teachers encouraged writing as a way to express himself. Myers wrote more than one hundred books, including picture books and nonfiction. He won the Coretta Scott King Award for African-American authors five times.