This Goodly Land

Margaret Zehmer Searcy (October 26, 1926–present)

Other Names Used

• Margaret Zehmer: birth name

Alabama Connections

• Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County: education, adult residence

Selected Works

• Searcy, Margaret Zehmer. Ikwa of the Temple Mounds. University: University of Alabama Press, 1974. For younger readers.
• Searcy, Margaret Zehmer. Tiny Bat and the Ball Game. Illus. Lu Celia Wise. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: Portals Press, 1978. For younger readers.
• Searcy, Margaret Zehmer. Alli Gator Gets a Bump on His Nose. Illus. Lu Celia Wise. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: Portals Press, 1978. For younger readers.
• Searcy, Margaret Zehmer. The Race of Flitty Humming Bird and Flappy Crane. Illus. Lu Celia Wise. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: Portals Press, 1980. For younger readers.
• Searcy, Margaret Z. The Charm of the Bear Claw Necklace: A Story of Stone-Age Southeastern Indians. University: University of Alabama Press, 1981. Rpt. as The Charm of the Bear Claw Necklace. Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing, 1990. For younger readers.
• Searcy, Margaret Zehmer. Wolf Dog of the Woodland Indians. University: University of Alabama Press, 1982. Rpt. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub. Co, 1998. For younger readers.
• Searcy, Margaret Zehmer. Eyr the Hunter: A Story of Ice-Age America. Illus. Joyce Haynes. Gretna, La.: Pelican Pub. Co., 1995. For younger readers.

Literary Awards

• Alabama Author Award, Alabama Library Association, 1980, for Tiny Bat and the Ball Game

Biographical Information

Margaret Zehmer Searcy was born and grew up in Raleigh, N.C. She earned her BA from Duke University in 1946. In 1954, Searcy became the first student to receive an MA in anthropology from the University of Alabama. She was an instructor in anthropology at the University of Alabama from 1963 until her retirement in 1988. Searcy's first children's book, Ikwa of the Temple Mounds, was published in 1974. Since then, she has published six more books for children and young adults. Television versions of Ikwa of the Temple Mounds and The Race of Flitty Humming Bird and Flappy Crane were first broadcast by Alabama Public Television in 1978.

Interests and Themes

Many of Margaret Zehmer Searcy's books for children and young adults introduce the reader to Southeastern Indians and their mythology, as well as the flora and fauna of the region. Eyr the Hunter is set in North America during the Ice Age.

For More Information

Please check your local library for these materials. If items are not available locally, your librarian can help you borrow them through the InterLibrary Loan program. Your librarian can also help you find other information about this author.

There may be more information available through the databases in the Alabama Virtual Library. If you are an Alabama citizen, AVL can be used at your public library or school library media center. You can also get a username and password from your librarian to use AVL at home.

Reference Book Chapters and Encyclopedia Entries

• "Searcy, Magaret Z(ehmer) 1926-"; Something About the Author. Vol. 54. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., . 103.
• "Searcy, Magaret Zehmer 1926-"; Something About the Author. Vol. 39. Detroit: Gale Research Company, . 187.

Reference Web Sites

• "Margaret Zehmer Searcy". Pelican Publishing Company. 2009. http://pelicanpub.com/products.asp?cat=494.
• Singleton-Rickman, Lisa. "Author Urges Children to Write". TimesDaily.com. 2007. http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20070331/NEWS/703310323?Title=Author-urges-children-to-write.

Location of Papers

• University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg

Photo courtesy of Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.

Last updated on Oct 15, 2009.