Best-Selling Author

Ruth Doan MacDougall is a member of the Laconia High School Class of 1957. After graduating from LHS, she attended Bennington College in Vermont for two years, and then transferred to Keene State College (Keene Teachers’ College at the time), joining her husband, Don. They were both English majors and graduated in 1961. Ruth’s father, Daniel Doan, was an author as well. She knew she wanted to be an author early on, writing her first story when she was just 6 years old. Ruth and Don were both planning on becoming English teachers, but they couldn't find two jobs close enough to each other. Instead, Don became a teacher, and Ruth decided to take a year off and focus on writing. She wrote full-time and published her first novel in 1965. So far, she has written 9 individual novels, on top of an 8 novel series called the Snowy Series. The first novel in this series, The Cheerleader, became a national bestseller. In addition to being a bestselling author, Ruth has also received the Keene State College Alumni Achievement Award. Even after all her achievements, Ruth, inspired by some words of her father’s, considers herself to still be learning to write.