Ruth Stiles Gannett (Gannett) Kahn

Ruth Stiles Gannett Kahn, author of the children’s book classic My Father’s Dragon, died peacefully at the age of 100 on June 11th in Danvers, Massachusetts. Her eldest daughter was with her when she died after a long and wonderful life.

Born in 1923 in Brooklyn, NY, to journalists Mary Ross Gannett and Lewis Stiles Gannett, Ruth attended a progressive elementary school called City and Country. She credits much of her creative success to the school’s philosophy of respecting children’s capacities and encouraging them to learn through doing. Ruth attended George School, a co-educational Quaker boarding school near Philadelphia for high school, then graduated from Vassar College in 1944 with a degree in chemistry.

Ruth wrote “My Father’s Dragon” just a few years later. Published in 1947, the year she married Hans Peter Kahn, it was an immediate success and was named a Newbery Honor Book. The book, along with two sequels, has remained in print ever since and has translated into many languages, the first being Japanese. Ruth received many letters, drawings and comments, that let her know how important My Father’s Dragon has been — and still is — to many readers of all ages around the world.

On an old farm not far from Cornell, Ruth and Peter raised chickens, geese, pigs, and other animals, and tended to a large vegetable garden as well as their growing family that by 1963 included 7 daughters.

In the late 1960’s, the family moved to Ithaca where Ruth worked with other parents and educators to create a progressive elementary school called East Hill School. Ruth became the school clerk, supporting the principal, teachers, students and their families to fulfill the school’s mission.

Ruth and Peter moved to their yellow Victorian farmhouse on a hill in the nearby farming community of Trumansburg in 1976 where they immersed themselves in the community. Ruth served on the school board for a term and became an avid library volunteer. Together, they renovated their old barn with a studio where Peter could teach and paint, and where friends, friends of friends, and visiting family members could stay.

After her husband’s death in 1997, Ruth continued to live in the Trumansburg farmhouse, with many friends stopping in for biscuits, muffins, toast, home-made jam and soup made from leftovers.  Ruth baked her own bread, did the crossword every morning, collected berries to make jam, gardened, fed the birds and attended tai chi until she no longer could. She loved to sing — especially with others — and to live sensibly by composting, recycling and walking, and by keeping in touch with family and friends. She was an active supporter of women’s and civil rights, the environment, peace, and progressive politics.

Ruth is survived by her seven daughters: Charlotte Kahn, Margaret Crone, Sarah Manfredi, Hannah Kahn, Louise Kahn, Catherine Kahn, and Elizabeth Kahn Ratzlaff. Also her grandchildren: Livia Manfredi Price, Amalia Gonzalez-Knapp, Hannah Manfredi Alexander, Ian Crone, Mark Ridder, Adam Ratzlaff, Benjamin Ratzlaff and Jacob Ratzlaff and Great-Grandchildren: Jesse Knapp, Paloma & Luisa Price, and Allison Ratzlaff.  She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and countless friends who meant so much to her. She was preceded in death by both of her parents and her stepmother, Ruth Chrisman Gannett, her husband of 49 years, Hans Peter Kahn, and her brother, Michael Gannett.

Ruth had a small, beautiful burial service at Green Springs Natural Cemetery Preserve on June 16th.  A Memorial will be held for her at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you kindly consider a donation to one of the many progressive causes that Ruth supported.