Tillie Olsen’s books, novels, and short stories have been translated into 13 languages and are widely taught in American colleges and unversities as part of the canon of comtemporary literature. “I Stand Here Ironing” from her book, Tell Me a Riddle, is considered the most anthologized short story of the 20th Century. It won the PEN / O. Henry award for best American short story in 1961 and was made into an academy award- winning movie. The daughter of Nebraska’s state secretary of the Socialist Party, Tillie worked in South Omaha slaughter houses and factories and has always been concerned with individuals rights and labor relations. She has been a writer in residence at MIT, Amherst College, Stanford University and Kenyon College. A non-graduate of Central, Tillie last attended in 1929.
Tillie passed away in 2007 at the age of 94.