Elizabeth Spencer (writer)

Elizabeth Spencer (July 19, 1921 – December 22, 2019) was an American writer. She was born in Carrollton, Mississippi. Spencer's first novel, "Fire in the Morning", was published in 1948. She wrote a total of nine novels, seven collections of short stories, a memoir ("Landscapes of the Heart", 1998), and a play ("For Lease or Sale", 1989). 
Her novella "The Light in the Piazza" (1960) was made into a movie in 1962 and made into a Broadway musical of the same name in 2005. 
She was a five-time recipient of the O. Henry Award for short fiction.
Spencer's mother was the great-aunt of U.S. Senator John McCain.
Spencer died on December 22, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina at the age of 98.