Judith Guest

Judith Guest (born March 29, 1936) is an American novelist and screenwriter. She was born in Detroit, Michigan and is the great-niece of Poet Laureate Edgar Guest (1881–1959). She is a recipient of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Guest attended Detroit's Mumford High School in 1951. When her family moved to Royal Oak, she transferred to Royal Oak High School; she graduated in 1954. Guest then studied English and psychology at the University of Michigan. She was also a member of Sigma Kappa sorority. Guest graduated with a BA in education. Guest taught at a public school for several years before deciding to work full-time completing a novel. Guest's first book, Ordinary People, published in 1976, was the basis of the 1980 film Ordinary People that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.