Zola Helen Ross (May 9, 1912 – November 14, 1989) (née Girdey) was a

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

writer. She also taught writing and co-founded the Pacific Northwest Writers Association with

Lucile Saunders McDonald Lucile Saunders McDonald (September 1, 1898 – June 23, 1992) was an American journalist, historian, and author of children's books from the Pacific Northwest. ''The Seattle Times'' described her as "... the first woman news reporter in all of S ...

of ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

''. She wrote in various genres, including adventure, children's fiction, crime, mystery, and suspense. She was also the author of several Western historical novels; her male counterpart was Louis L'Amour. The Pacific Northwest and the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

are the settings for her stories, and they include the towns of Reno, San Francisco, and Seattle. Ross occasionally wrote under the pseudonyms Helen Arre and Bert Iles. She taught writing at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and the

Lake Washington Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, ...

schools in

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in the county and the twelfth largest in the state. The city's downto ...

. She was married to William Frank Ross, and lived in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Selected publications

* (1946) ''Three Down Vulnerable'' * (1947) ''Overdue For Death'' * (1948) ''One Corpse Missing'' * (1949) ''Bonanza Queen'' * (1950) ''Tonopah Lady'' * (1951) ''Reno Crescent'' * (1952) ''The Green Land'' * (1954) ''Cassy Scandal'' * (1955) ''The Golden Witch'' * (1956) ''A Land To Tame'' * (1957) ''Spokane Saga''

Using pseudonym Helen Arre

* (1953) ''The Corpse By The River'' * (1954) ''No Tears At The Funeral'' * (1956) ''Write It Murder'' * (1958) ''The Golden Shroud'' * (1960) ''Murder By The Book''

Using pseudonym Bert Iles

* (1956) ''Murder In Mink''

Co-authored with McDonald

* (1950) ''The mystery of Castesby Island'' * (1952) ''Stormy year'' * (1954) ''Fridays̓ child'' * (1956) ''Mystery of the long house'' * (1956) ''Pigtail pioneer'' * (1957) ''Wing Harbor'' * (1958) ''The courting of Ann Maria'' * (1959) ''Assignment in Ankara'' * (1961) ''Winter's answer'' * (1959) ''The stolen letters'' * (1968) ''The sunken forest''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Zola Helen 1912 births 1989 deaths University of Washington faculty American women novelists Pseudonymous women writers Western (genre) writers Writers from Seattle 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from Washington (state) Organization founders American women academics 20th-century pseudonymous writers