Jean Hager facts for kids

Jean Hager (born June 2, 1932) is an American writer of mystery fiction, children's fiction, and romance novels. She has published romance novels under the pseudonyms Jeanne Stephens, Leah Crane, Marlaine Kyle, Amanda McAllister, and Sara North, as well as in her own name. Two of her three mystery series involve modern Cherokee life in Oklahoma and feature either police chief Mitch Bushyhead or civil rights investigator Molly Bearpaw. The third series is set in Iris House, a bed and breakfast establishment in Missouri that features amateur sleuth Tess Darcy.

Hager attended Oklahoma State University from 1950 to 1953, the University of Tulsa from 1964 to 1966, completed a B.A. at Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1969, and did graduate study at the University of Oklahoma in 1969–70. After teaching high school English from 1970 through 1974, she turned to full-time writing in 1975.

She won the Oklahoma Writers Federation Teepee Award five times, was named Oklahoma Writer of the Year in 1982, and was inducted into the Oklahoma Professional Writers Hall of Fame in 1992. Her professional memberships have included Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and American Crime Writers.