Author Profile:  Eleanor Harder

Eleanor Harder, author, composer/lyricist, has written over 20 plays and musicals, many with her husband, Ray.  Their works have been produced in all 50 states and 16 foreign countries.  A graduate of UCLA in theater and music, Eleanor has received numerous awards for her work, was given a grant from the state of Michigan for a new musical, honored by the Authors and Celebrities Forum and The Los Angeles Board of Education for her plays and musicals for family audiences, and awarded Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the UCLA Writers' Program.  A member of The Dramatists Guild, Actors' Equity, AFTRA, ASCAP and PEN, Harder has also written a children's novel, music for Oscar Wilde's stories (House of Pomegranates), radio scripts for the Los Angeles County Schools (People, Places and Things), writer/reporter for ABC Network Radio (Weekend West), stories for Hanna Barbera TV Productions (Yogi Bear), Western Publishing (Tweety and Sylvester), educational filmstrips for CBS and scripts, stories and music for Mattel Toys.  At the 2010 San Francisco Theatre Conference, Eleanor and Ray were honored with a Medallion Award from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America in recognition of their life-long collaboration in theatre for both youth and adult audiences.  The Harders have two married children, Dan and Julie, and three grandchildren.  They share their home in Los Angeles with Tary, a spaniel of sorts that wandered in and stayed.