Elwyn Brooks White, commonly known as E. B. White, was an American author. He is best remembered for his contributions to children’s literature as well as his work revising, editing, and expanding an instruction manual of writing styles, The Elements of Style, authored by William Strunk Jr., White’s former English professor (1918). White was also a frequent contributor and editor for The New Yorker and a columnist for Harper’s.

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, in 1895, White graduated from Cornell University in 1921 and went on to work as a reporter for various newspapers before joining the staff of The New Yorker. In 1929, White married Katharine Angell, a literary editor at The New Yorker who had read his application for the publication and endorsed his hiring. They raised a son together, born in 1930, as well as Angell’s two children from a previous marriage.

Prior to his career as a children’s book writer, White published a number of books of essays and poetry. His first book for young readers, Stuart Little, was published in 1945. Charlotte’s Web, which won a Newbery Honor, was released in 1952. White published his third children's book, The Trumpet of the Swan, in 1970.