Ann Matthews Martin is an American children's author. Ann Martin grew up in Princeton, New Jersey with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Martin became a teacher and then an editor of children's books; she is now a full-time writer. Martin finds the ideas for her books from many different sources; some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, including the members of The Baby-Sitters Club, are fictional, but many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes. Martin has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself. 

August 12th, 1955 in Princeton (Age 69)