A writer of words, like a prayer, novelist and playwright Zona Gale (1874–1938) was born in Portage, Wisconsin and began her career as a newspaper reporter.

She published her first short story in 1903 and soon became a full-time freelance writer, selling her debut novel, Romance Island, two years later.

Gale is best known for realistically capturing small-town life in the Midwest. Her novel Miss Lulu Bett became a 1920 bestseller, sparked the "revolt from the village" movement, and later earned a Pulitzer Prize as a Broadway play.

The freethinking story of an unmarried woman's quest to live freely made Gale the first woman to win the Pulitzer for Drama.

“I don’t know a better preparation for life than a love of poetry and a good digestion,” she once said.

Zona Gale’s deep passion for politics, pacifism, and education continues to inspire lives with compassion and clarity. Unconditional love's small acts of kindness cure.