Olive Ann Burns facts for kids

Olive Ann Burns (born July 17, 1924 – died July 4, 1990) was an American writer from Georgia. She is most famous for her only completed novel, Cold Sassy Tree, which was published in 1984.

Early Life and Education

Olive Ann Burns was born in Banks County, Georgia. Her father was a farmer. During the Great Depression in 1931, her family faced difficult times and had to sell their farm. They then moved to Commerce, Georgia.

Olive Ann went to Mercer University. There, she enjoyed writing for the college magazine. Later, she transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She studied journalism, which is the field of collecting and reporting news.

Writing Career

After college, Burns worked for the Atlanta Journal newspaper. She sometimes wrote under a different name, a pseudonym, "Amy Larkin." She married Andy Sparks, who was also a journalist.

In 1971, Olive Ann Burns started writing down stories her parents told her about their family. In 1975, she was diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of cancer. This made her decide to turn those family stories into a novel. This book became Cold Sassy Tree.

The novel was finally published in 1984, eight years after she started writing it. Many readers loved Cold Sassy Tree and wrote to her, asking for another book. So, she began writing a follow-up novel called Leaving Cold Sassy.

Sadly, Olive Ann Burns passed away in 1990 at age 65. She died from heart failure in a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. She did not finish Leaving Cold Sassy. However, the unfinished book was published in 1992, along with her notes.

Published Works

• Cold Sassy Tree, published in 1984