Grace Steele Woodward was born and raised in Missouri and educated at Missouri University, the University of Oklahoma, and Teachers College at Columbia University. A champion basketball player and stage actress during her school days, Mrs. Woodward was a busy wife and mother when she was “bit by the bug” of writing. She became the celebrated author of many works, including The Cherokees, a work of the University of Oklahoma Press’s American Indian Series, Pocahontas, and the internationally recognized The Man Who Conquered Pain. She did all of her writing in longhand on a biscuit board while cooking “or whatever” and carried her manuscript and notes in a green laundry basket.