May 24, 1898

Kathleen Hale (May 24, 1898 to January 26, 2000) is remembered as a children's writer. She wrote many books featuring an orange cat named Orlando. She also painted and sculpted, often animals. Here is her picture as it appears in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

Kathleen Hale (1898–2000), by Kurt Hutton, 1949

The last paragraphs of her ODNB article capture nicely a lovely life, if not the wit in her writing:

In 1961, after McClean's retirement, he and Hale moved to Todd House, a cottage in Oxfordshire. Their sons had grown up and left home, but there were still plenty of cats. McClean died in 1967, followed shortly afterwards by the second Orlando. Hale wrote her last book when she was in her nineties. A Slender Reputation (1994) is a frank and evocative memoir, its characteristically modest title taken from Cedric Morris's remark: ‘Do you mean to tell me, Kathleen, that you have hung your slender reputation on the broad shoulders of a eunuch cat?’ ....

Hale ...was made an OBE in 1976, and wore her usual assortment of eclectic and colourful clothes, mostly bought from second-hand shops, when presented with the award by the queen at Buckingham Palace.....