author
Erick Berry
1892–1974
Best known for imaginative historical adventures for young readers, this American writer and illustrator brought myth, travel, and art together in books that still feel lively and curious. She wrote under a pen name and built stories from a deep interest in places, history, and visual detail.
1 Audiobook
Cynthia Steps Out
by Erick Berry
About the author
Born Evangel Allena Champlin Best in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1892, she wrote under the pen name Erick Berry. She was an American author, illustrator, and editor, and her background in art shaped the vivid, visual quality of her books.
She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and also pursued art training in New York and Paris. Archival and reference sources describe her as someone who began as an illustrator before moving into writing for young readers, often drawing on history, travel, and mythology.
Berry is especially remembered for children's books such as The Winged Girl of Knossos. Her life and papers are preserved in literary archives, and the surviving record shows a long creative career that joined storytelling with illustration.