Ryan,+Kathryn+Morgan

Biographical Information:
Dates: 1925-1993 Dates in Ridgefield: 1959-1989 fiction, nonfiction, journalism editor, journalist When author Cornelius Ryan died of cancer November 23, 1974, he left his daughter, Victoria, a note to “tell Mom to look in the files underneath the Eisenhower interviews.” Kathryn Morgan Ryan went to the files, filled with notes, notebooks, tapes and diaries, and pulled out one marked “C, 1970.” “In that file,” Mrs. Ryan said, “was everything Connie had learned pertaining to cancer. It was a totally secret account of his private battle against cancer.” Using these extensive notes as a basis, Mrs. Ryan wrote //A Private Battle//, the story of her husband’s illness and death. No amateur at writing, Mrs. Ryan was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism who had been a writer and editor for many Conde Nast magazines, and an award-winning senior writer at //Time//. She helped her husband research his books and was co-author of //A Bridge Too Far//. Her novel, //The Betty Tree//, tells of a youth growing up in her native Iowa. Much more involved in the community than her husband, Mrs. Ryan was active in helping the District Nursing Association, belonged to the Ridgefield Garden Club, and served on St. Stephen’s Church committees. She lived here from 1959 to 1989, and died in Florida in 1993. ** Titles: ** //The Money Tree //, 1972 //A Private Battle, // 1980  --Sources: Notable Ridgefielders–Jack Sanders; //New York Times// obit, February 19, 1993