Molly Cone

Content type
Collection

Molly Cone

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Molly Cone on May 22, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, as part of the Weaving Women’s Words Oral History Project. Cone recounts her family's immigration history, childhood in Tacoma, Washington, feeling different as a minority, education, writing career, marriage, raising children, Jewish holidays, and her passion for travel, including visits to Israel.

Molly Cone

A prolific and well-loved author, Molly Cone has penned numerous children’s and young adults’ books, travel articles, educational materials, and a history of the Jews in Washington State. Born in Tacoma to Latvian emigrants, Molly grew up in a close-knit family steeped in Jewish traditions. Married in 1939 to Gerald Cone, they moved to Seattle where they raised three children and became founding members of Temple Beth Am, a reform synagogue in Northeast Seattle. They are enthusiastic travelers. As a writer, Molly’s narrative often focuses on human communication-how both talking and silence organize the ways we think about the world and each other.

Molly Cone

Molly Cone wrote for over four decades, producing more than 40 books. They include young adult novels, short story collections, middle-grade fiction, Judaica for young readers, and non-fiction on ecological and educational topics. Her work frequently incorporates bits and pieces of her family life, as well as the love of Jewish culture which so enriched her childhood.

Children's Literature in the United States

Children’s literature in the United States would not be the same without Jewish women. From Sydney Taylor to Judy Blume to Lesléa Newman, Jewish women have written books read by millions of children and teenagers in the U.S. for more than a century.

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