Mary Flannery O'Connor was born March 25, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia to Edward Francis O'Connor Jr., a real estate agent, and Regina O'Connor, neé Cline. Both parents came from families that were prominent in Georgia's Catholic Church. In 1938 Mr O'Connor became ill with lupus erythematosis, a degenerative disease attacking the bones and immune system, for which there was no treatment at the time. He died in 1941, when Flannery was fifteen. She attended Peabody High School from 1938 to 1942. By this time she was already writing short books and submitting stories for publication, but she was also a serious cartoonist. She studied at Georgia State College for Women (now Georgia College) until 1945, beginning a course in English but

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First published 08 November 2002

Citation: McGill, Robert James. "Flannery O'Connor". The Literary Encyclopedia. 8 November 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3373, accessed 21 November 2009.]