author
Helga Sandburg
1918–2014
A versatile American writer who moved easily between novels, memoir, poetry, and children's books, she also helped preserve the legacy of one of America's best-known literary families. Her work often reflects a close attention to nature, memory, and everyday life.
1 Audiobook
The wheel of earth
by Helga Sandburg
About the author
Helga Sandburg was born in Maywood, Illinois, in 1918 and was the youngest daughter of poet and historian Carl Sandburg and Lilian Steichen Sandburg. Sources from the Library of Congress and the National Park Service describe her as the author of 17 books, with work ranging across novels, memoirs, children's literature, and poetry.
Among the books specifically noted by the Library of Congress are The Wheel of Earth (1958), Joel and the Wild Goose (1963), and The Age of the Flower (1994). Reference sources also note that she worked as her father's secretary in the 1940s and later lectured on reminiscence, folk song, and writing.
She died on January 26, 2014, at her home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, at age 95. While she is often remembered as Carl Sandburg's daughter, the record available here shows a long writing life of her own, shaped by many genres and sustained over decades.