Selden, George

George Selden (1929-1989) was the author of "A Cricket in Times Square", winner of the 1961 Newbery Honor and a timeless children's classic. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Selden received his B.A. from Yale, where he was a member of the Elizabethan Club and contributed to the literary magazine. He spent three summer sessions at Columbia University and, after college, studied for a year in Rome on a Fulbright Scholarship. People often asked Selden how he got the idea for "The Cricket in Times Square". "One night I was coming home on the subway, and I did hear a cricket chirp in the Times Square...