Jack Gantos

Quick Facts

Full Name	Jack Gantos
Occupation	Children's Author
Date Of Birth	Jul 2, 1951(1951-07-02)
Age	73
Birthplace	Mount Pleasant
Country	United States
Birth City	Pennsylvania
Horoscope	Cancer

Jack Gantos Biography

Jack Gantos is one of the most popular and richest Children's Author who was born on July 2, 1951 in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, United States. A popular American children’s author, he won the 2011 Newbery Medal for his work, Dead End in Norvelt. His most famous characters are a cat named Rotten Ralph and a boy with ADHD named Joey Pigza.

He was influenced by fellow children’s author, Roald Dahl.

During that time he began to work on picture books with Nicole Rubel, a student at the Boston Museum School. Rotten Ralph was the first to be published, by Houghton Mifflin in 1976. Within ten years Gantos and Rubel completed some twenty picture books including two more in the Rotten Ralph series. Meanwhile, Gantos began teaching about writing children’s books. He was professor of creative writing and literature (1978–95) at Emerson College in Boston, and a visiting professor at Brown University (1986); University of New Mexico (1993); and Vermont College of Fine Arts (2004). He developed master’s degree programs in children’s book writing at both Emerson College and Vermont College.

Jack Gantos was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh to construction superintendent John Gantos and banker Elizabeth (Weaver) Gantos. He was raised in South Florida and the Caribbean, and followed his parents to St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. He got involved in the drug trade there, and ended up in New York City. After serving one and a half years of a six-year sentence he entered college and continued writing, finally publishing his first book, Rotten Ralph, in 1976. The latest Rotten Ralph book was published in 2014; there are now 20 titles in the series for young readers. Gantos has written for readers of all ages, including the memoir Hole in My Life, published in 2002.

He was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania to Elizabeth Weaver (a banker) and John Gantos (a construction worker).

Jack Gantos Net Worth

Jack Gantos is one of the richest Children's Author from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Jack Gantos 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

He studied at Emerson College in Boston. He published his first children’s book, Rotten Ralph, in 1976.

His 2002 memoir, Hole in My Life, was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Jack Gantos (born July 2, 1951) is an American author of children’s books. He is best known for the fictional characters Rotten Ralph and Joey Pigza. Rotten Ralph is a cat who stars in twenty picture books written by Gantos, and illustrated by Nicole Rubel from 1976 to 2014. Joey Pigza is a boy with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), featured in five novels from 1998 to 2014.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Jack Gantos height Not available right now. Jack weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Jack Gantos Dating?

According to our records, Jack Gantos married to Anne A. Lower. As of December 1, 2023, Jack Gantos’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Jack Gantos. You may help us to build the dating records for Jack Gantos!

Facts & Trivia

Jack Ranked on the list of most popular Children's Author. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. Jack Gantos celebrates birthday on July 2 of every year.

Where does Jack Gantos live now?

This nonfiction book for teens, Hole in My Life, has won numerous awards and reached many troubled teenage boys. In addition to writing, Jack Gantos speaks to young people in classrooms, libraries, and prisons. Today he lives with his wife and daughter in Boston, Massachusetts.

What inspired Jack Gantos to write?

As recounted in Heads or Tails, his first book of “Jack Henry” stories inspired by his own childhood journals. The seeds for Jack’s writing career were planted in sixth grade, when he read his sister’s diary and decided he could write better than she could.

Where did Jack Gantos grow up?

​Jack was born in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, and grew up in the nearby town of Norvelt. He remembers playing a lot of “pass the chalk” in Mrs. Neiderheizer’s class in first grade. He was in the Bluebird reading group, which he later found out was for the slow readers.

Where was Gantos born?

Mount Pleasant, PA

What did Jack Gantos do?

Jack Gantos (born July 2, 1951) is an American author of children’s books. He is best known for the fictional characters Rotten Ralph and Joey Pigza. Rotten Ralph is a cat who stars in twenty picture books written by Gantos and illustrated by Nicole Rubel from 1976 to 2014.