Kathryn Blair Swarthout, 96, passed away April 3, 2015. Under her pen name, Kate Swarthout, she was a columnist for Woman's Day magazine for 26 years. With her late husband, Glendon, an internationally-known novelist who died in 1992, Kathryn co-wrote six novellas for young adults. Mrs. Swarthout received a Certificate of Merit in Literature from the National Society of Arts and Letters for her writing. Together, Kathryn and Glendon established the Swarthout Writing Awards for young writers at ASU in 1962, which gives significant cash prizes for poetry and short fiction every April through the Creative Writing/English department on the Tempe campus. The 2015 writing awards ceremony will be held at the Faculty Club on campus on this Tuesday evening, April 21, 2015. The Western Writers of America honored Kathryn with their Branding Iron Award in June, 2010, at their Oklahoma City convention for her 35 years of service to that literary organization. Kathryn Swarthout leaves behind her son, two sisters, plus nieces and nephews. There will be a reception in Scottsdale later in May. Memorial donations may be made to the ASU Foundation for the benefit of the Glendon and Kathryn Swarthout Awards in Creative Writing Endowment, P.O. Box 2260, Tempe, Arizona 85280-2260.

(Source: ASU Foundation)