Author Elisa Bialk, c. 1960s.

Elisa Bialk was born in Chicago in 1908. Growing up in Lincoln Park, it is apparent that her writing talent was recognized from a young age. By the time Bialk finished high school, she had published stories and poetry in newspapers and magazines. She went on to study journalism at Northwestern University, after which she worked for several neighborhood newspapers.

As Bialk honed her skills, she continued to write and successfully publish her work in magazines like McCall’s, the Saturday Evening Post, and Good Housekeeping. 

In 1934, Bialk married advertising executive L. Martin Krautter. They had several children, who, as they grew up, inspired Bialk to turn away from magazine work and focus on writing children’s stories. She published her first novel, On What Strange Stuff, in 1935.

Movie poster for The Sainted Sister, a film based on the story by Elisa Bialk, 1948.

Throughout her career, Bialk wrote a number of famous stories and books. In 1948, for example, her story The Sainted Sister was made into a movie starring Veronica Lake and Joan Caulfield. That same year, she published The Horse Called Pete, the first book in what became a series of 28 books. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, she published several books in the Tizz series, which became some of the most popular of her career. 

Bialk and her family lived at 791 Bryant in Winnetka from 1947 to 1977. After her husband passed away, she moved to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, where she lived until her death in 1990.