Robert Burch

Robert Burch (1925–2007) published nineteen works for children, including Tyler, Wilkin, and Skee (1963), Skinny (1964), D. J.’ s Worst Enemy (1965), Queenie Peavy (1966), and Ida Early Comes Over the Mountain (1980), which was adapted for television as an NBC movie, The Incredible Ida Early, in 1987. He won numerous awards from librarians, teachers, and his fellow writers, and received the Georgia Governor’s Award for excellence in literature. Born in Inman, Burch served in World War II in the South Pacific, New Guinea, and Australia. Following the war he majored in horticulture at the University of Georgia, earning a Bachelor’s degree in agriculture. He was a longtime resident of Fayetteville, where he died in 2007. (Inducted in 2009)