Lee Merrill Byrd

Lee Merrill Byrd, novelist and publisher, was born and raised in New Jersey but has spent most of her life in the Southwest. Besides being an award-winning author, Lee is known as a pioneer in publishing children's bilingual books. She and her husband, poet Bobby Byrd, founded Cinco Puntos Press (now a Lee & Low imprint) in 1985. For their work, they received Cultural Freedom Fellowships for Excellence in Publishing from the Lannan Foundation; an Excellence in Publishing Award from the Border Regional Library Association; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from PubWest. Lee's children’s books include The Treasure on Gold Street, A Neighborhood Story; Juanito Counts to Ten; and Birdie’s Beauty Parlor. She also authored My Sister Disappears (SMU Press) Riley's Fire (Algonquin). Lee lives in El Paso, Texas.