Margaret Sutton, 1903 - 2001 Margaret Sutton was born in 1903 to the name of Rachel Beebe, in Odin, Pennsylvania. She grew up in Coudersport, near the border of New York State, and learned her story telling ability form her mother. She began writing stories for her husband's daughter after she married William Sutton in 1924. Sutton's first book, "The Vanishing Shadow" began the Judy Bolton series and was published in 1932. This began a series containing 38 books and spanning 35 years, the last book, "The Secret of the Sand Castle" being published in 1967. The books were all stories about real life events in and around Coudersport and other parts of Potter County where Sutton grew up. Her books sold more than 5 million copies. Sutton went on to teach creative writing for adult education classes as well as working towards fair housing and civil rights in Berkeley, California. Margaret Sutton died on June 21, 2001 in Pennsylvania at the age of 98.