Pearl S. Buck
Most minors start having conversations and talking fluently at age four. Pearl S. Buck not only could speak fluently at age four but she could speak two languages, which were English and Chinese. English and Chinese are the most complicated languages to speak and write. Pearl S. Buck wrote numerous influential books and used her extraordinary education to ultimately lead to her success as a writer. Pearl Sydenstricker was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, on June 26, 1892 (Pearl Buck Biography). Her parents, Absalom and Caroline Sydenstricker, were Presbyterian missionaries (Pearl Buck Biography). At the time of her birth her parents were on a twelve-year leave from the duty of their activities in Chinkiang, China (Pearl Buck Biography). The Sydenstrickers had returned to Hillsboro after losing all but two of their children to tropical disease (Pearl Buck Biography). Despite their experience, they returned to China when Pearl was just five months old (Pearl Buck Biography). Unlike other foreign families, the Sydenstrickers lived in the Chinese villages. Buck and her family lived among the Chinese people (Pearl Buck Biography). She played with Chinese children and visited their homes; she listened to their ideas and learned about their culture (Pearl Buck). From an early age, she spoke both Chinese and English. Buck recalled never feeling different from the Chinese children (Pearl Buck). In 1917, she became Pearl Buck by marrying John Lossing Buck, an American agricultural specialist, with whom she settled in northern China (Pearl Buck Biography). Their life among the poorest people provided the subject matter for many of the books she later wrote (About). From 1921 until 1934 they lived chiefly in Nanking, where her husband taught agricultural theory (About). Buck occasionally taught English literature at several universities in the city, although most of her time was spent caring for her mentally disabled daughter and her infirm parents
Cited: "About Pearl S. Buck International." Pearl S. Buck International. Pearl S. Buck, 2010. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://www.psbi.org/page.aspx?pid=327>. Buck, Pearl S. The Good Earth. New York: Washington Square, 2004. Print. "Pearl Buck." Www.kirjasto.sci.fi. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://kirjasto.sci.fi/pearlbuc.htm>. "Pearl Buck - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 4 Mar 2012 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1938/buck-bio.html