Friendship Village

Zona Gale (1874-1938) was an American writer. Born in Portage, Wisconsin, which she often used as a setting in her writing, she attended Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Later she entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which she received a Bachelor of Literature degree in 1895, and four years later a Master s degree. After graduation, Gale wrote for newspapers in Milwaukee and New York City. However, before long she gave up journalism to focus on fiction writing. She then published her first novel, Romance Island (1906), and began the very popular series of Friendship Village stories. In 1912, Gale moved back to Portage, which she would call home for the rest of her life, although alternating with trips to New York. In 1920, she published the novel Miss Lulu Bett, which depicts life in the Midwestern United States. She adapted it as a play, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. In the same year, Gale took an active role in the creation of the Wisconsin Equal Rights Law, which prohibits discrimination against women.