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Crown Prince Akihito and Elizabeth Gray Vining

Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining (October 6, 1902 - November 27, 1999), born Elizabeth Janet Gray and also known as Elizabeth Gray Vining, was a professional librarian who tutored Emperor Akihito of Japan in English while he was the Crown Prince. She was also a noted author of children's literature.

[edit] Biography

Vining was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was a graduate of Germantown Friends School and later Bryn Mawr College, class of 1923. In 1926, after earning a degree in library science from the Drexel Institute in 1925, she became a librarian at the University of North Carolina, and in 1929 she married Morgan Fisher Vining, associate director of the Extension Division of the same university. The marriage ended in 1933 with her husband's death in a New York City automobile accident, in which she was also severely injured. During her convalescence, she converted to the Quaker church.

Vining was selected by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers during the occupation of Japan after the end of World War II to be a private tutor to the Imperial House of Japan. In addition to teaching English language skills, she also introduced the children of the Imperial Household: (Prince Hitachi and Princesses Kazuko, Atsuko, and Takako) to western values and culture. She also lectured at the Gakushuin University and at the Tsuda College. For her work, she was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, third class, shortly before her return to the United States in 1950.

After her return to the United States, she wrote a book about her experiences in Japan (Windows for the Crown Prince, 1952) and went on to author over 60 other works of fiction and non-fiction. She was awarded a Newbery medal for Adam of the Road.

[edit] Partial bibliography

• Meredith's Ann (1927)
• Tangle Garden (1928)
• Meggy MacIntosh (1930)
• Jane Hope (1933)
• Young Walter Scott (1935)
• Beppy Marlowe (1936)
• Penn (1938)
• Contributions of the Quakers (1939)
• The Fair Adventure (1940)
• Adam of the Road (1942)
• Sandy (1945)
• Windows for the Crown Prince (1952)
• The Virginia Exiles (1955)
• Friend of Life - A Biography of Rufus M. Jones (1958)
• The Cheerful Heart (1959)
• Return to Japan (1960)
• I Will Adventure (1962)
• Take Heed of Loving Me (1963)
• Flora: A Biography (1966)
• I, Roberta (1967)
• Quiet Pilgrimage (1970)
• The Taken Girl (1972)
• Being Seventy - The Measure of a Year (1978)
• Harnessing Pegasus: Inspiration and Meditation (1978)

[edit] References

• Bix, Herbert B (2001). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093130-2. 

[edit] External links

• Quaker Obituaries
• New York Times obiturary