{{Short description|American author and educator (1912–2005)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}}

{{Infobox writer | embed = | honorific_prefix = | name = Roz Young | honorific_suffix = | image = Roz_young_1991.jpeg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Young and her cat in 1991 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = Rosamond Eileen McPherson | birth_date = {{birth date|1912|10|4}} | birth_place = Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|09|18|1912|10|04}}<!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | resting_place = Sugar Grove Cemetery in West Alexandria, Ohio | occupation = {{hlist|Columnist|Biographer|Historian| Educator}} | language = | residence = | nationality = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Oberlin College | home_town = | period = 1953–2003 | genre = <!-- or: | genres = --> Commentary, Nonfiction | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | movement = | notableworks = <!-- or: | notablework = --> | spouse = <!-- or: | spouses = -->William A. Young | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc; or omit --> }}

'''Rosamond McPherson "Roz" Young''' (October 4, 1912 – September 18, 2005) was an author, educator, historian, and for more than 25 years a "beloved"<ref name="UD21sept05" /> columnist for ''The Dayton Daily News'' and, prior to that, ''The Journal Herald'' in Dayton, Ohio. Her columns appeared on the Op-Ed page at a time when few women received bylines outside the Women's Pages. She was noted for taking other writers to task for lapses in grammar and for frequently including mention of her cat, Edith, in her columns.

==Early life and education== Young was born in Dayton, Ohio on October 4, 1912, to artist Harry W. and Isabel Gilbert McPherson. She graduated from Dayton's Steele High School in 1930 and received a bachelor's degree (1934) and a Master's (1936) from Oberlin College.<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" />

==Early career== After receiving her degree in English literature from Oberlin College in 1934, Young applied for a job at the ''Dayton Journal'', who told her "We don't hire women! But if you want to work for free, we'll let you." At her mother's insistence she returned to school to get a degree she could use to make a living.<ref name="dempseyDDN6dec96">{{cite news |last1=Dempsey |first1=Laura |title=Columnist writes purrfect story |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/409140829/?terms=dempsey |accessdate=13 November 2018 |work=Dayton Daily News |date=December 6, 1996}}</ref> Young taught English, German, Latin and journalism for more than thirty years at Wilbur Wright and then High School, both in Dayton.<ref name="UD21sept05" /><ref name="stivers" /> "It took me until 1970 to work my way out of the classroom."<ref name="dempseyDDN6dec96" /> She replaced "legendary" columnist Marj Heyduck, who died that year.<ref name="dempseyDDN6dec96" />

==''Dayton Daily News'' columnist== Young's daily column "appeared opposite the Editorial page at a time when women writers were usually relegated to the Women's Page," which generally covered fashion, debuts, social events, and homemaking<ref name="DDNeditboard19aug05" /><ref name="stivers">{{cite web |title=Rosamond McPherson Young – Teacher (Special Recognition) |url=http://stivershof.org/rosamond-mcpherson-young-teacher-special-recognition/ |website=Stivers Hall of Fame |accessdate=11 November 2018}}</ref> starting in 1970. In 1982 she semi-retired, writing a single column each week which appeared on Saturdays, until her death in 2005. She covered topics ranging from local history and culture to the current doings of her cat, Edith.<ref name="dempseyDDN6dec96" /><ref name="daltoncurt15">{{cite book |last1=Dalton |first1=Curt |title=Revisiting Roz Young |date=2015 |isbn=9781506199221}}</ref><ref name="stivers" /> She was noted for "tak(ing) others to task for grammatical lapses" in her columns;<ref name="UD21sept05" /><ref name="wildDDNaug212005">{{cite news |last1=Wild |first1=Bill |title=A columnist, a teacher, and a conscience |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/411263421/?terms=bill%2Bwild |accessdate=13 November 2018 |work=The Dayton Daily News |date=August 21, 2005}}</ref> in an obituary on the Op-Ed page, the ''Dayton Daily News'' said "she'll correct God himself if he doesn't use the possessive with his gerunds."<ref name="DDNeditboard19aug05" /> She assessed a 25-cent fine on colleagues who allowed grammatical errors to make it into print.<ref name="wildDDNaug212005" /><ref name="dempseyDDN6dec96" /> Her 2005 obituary appeared on the front page of the ''Dayton Daily News''.<ref name="klineDDN19aug05">{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Benjamin |title=Roz Young 1912–2005 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/411258768/?terms=benjamin%2Bkline |accessdate=13 November 2018 |work=Dayton Daily News |date=August 19, 2005}}</ref>

==Reception and impact== The Dayton Foundation referred to her as "famed,"<ref name="dayfound18">{{cite web |title=Good News |url=https://www.daytonfoundation.org/GoodNews/smr-2018/gn-smr18-art4.html |website=DaytonFoundation.org |publisher=Dayton Foundation |accessdate=11 November 2018}}</ref> and the University of Dayton as "beloved."<ref name="UD21sept05" /> The ''Dayton Daily News'' Editorial Board called her "a Dayton institution."<ref name="DDNeditboard19aug05">{{cite news |title=Roz Young: author, lady, reader's friend |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/411259041/?terms=roz%2Byoung |accessdate=13 November 2018 |work=Dayton Daily New |date=August 19, 2005}}</ref>

She often helped young women writers, "leaving some to wonder if she was giving them what she hadn't gotten early in her career."<ref name="DDNeditboard19aug05" /> Novelist Trudy Krisher describes in a column after Young's death how Young had helped Krisher attract the attention of a literary agent.<ref name="krisher05">{{cite news |last1=Krisher |first1=Trudy |title=A true friend, a good writer |work=Dayton Daily News |date=August 21, 2005}}</ref> Novelist P. D. James described their friendship in a column memorializing Young.<ref>{{cite news |last1=James |first1=P.D. |title=The same attitude to life |work=Dayton Daily News |date=August 21, 2005}}</ref>

The University of Dayton holds her library.<ref name="UD21sept05">{{cite web |title=Dayton Columnist and Author Roz Young Donates Prized Books to University of Dayton |url=https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=10644&context=news_rls |publisher=University of Dayton |accessdate=11 November 2018}}</ref>

==Books== In addition to her weekly column, Young wrote academic textbooks, young adult biography and fiction, history, and popular literature.<ref name="UD21sept05" /> Her books were variously published under the names Rosamond McPherson, Rosamond McPherson Young, and Roz Young.

==Personal life== Young married former widower William A. Young, a director at Camp Kern,<ref name="huffmanDDN9jun98">{{cite news |last1=Huffman |first1=Dale |title=Council ring to be dedicated |work=Dayton Daily News |date=June 9, 1998}}</ref> whom she met while researching the history of the YMCA for a book, in 1953. She was widowed in 1966.<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" /><ref name="stivers" />

She died August 18, 2005, and is buried at Sugar Grove Cemetery in West Alexandria, Ohio.<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" />

==Bibliography== * ''Edith, the Cat Who Ate an Elm Tree''<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" /> (2003) *'' Dayton Comes of Age''<ref name="DaytonLib" /> (2002, with Claudia Lynn Watson) * ''Two Perfectly Marvelous Cats''<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" /> (1996) *'' Cat, thy Name is Edith''<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" /> (1991) * ''The Great Lady of First Street: Christ Episcopal Church, 150 Years''<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" /> (1981, with Catherine F. Booker) * ''Twelve Second to the Moon: A Story of the Wright Brothers''<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" /> (1978) * ''Queen of the North Parlor''<ref name="DaytonLib">{{cite web |title=Young, Rosamund McPherson |url=https://pac.daytonmetrolibrary.org/polaris/search/searchresults.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&type=Keyword&term=young,%20rosamond%20mcpherson&by=AU&sort=MP&limit=TOM=*&query=&page=0&searchid=4 |publisher=Dayton Metro Library |accessdate=14 December 2018}}</ref> (1976) * ''Continuing History of the Young Men's Christian Association of Dayton, Ohio 1953&ndash;1970''<ref name="DaytonLib" /> (1970) * ''Mrs. Hedges' House''<ref name="DaytonLib" /> (1967) *'' Wilbur Was His Name''<ref name="DaytonLib" /> (1967) * ''The Spy With Two Hats''<ref name="DaytonLib" /> (1966) * ''Made of Aluminum: a Life of Charles Martin Hall''<ref name="DaytonLib" /> (1965) * ''Boss Ket: a Life of Charles F. Kettering''<ref name="blackDDN15aug61">{{cite news |last1=Black |first1=Kay |title=Roz Young writes Life of 'Boss Ket' |work=Dayton Daily News |date=August 15, 1961}}</ref> (1961) * ''A History of the Young Men's Christian Association of Dayton Ohio 1858&ndash;1953''<ref name="klineDDN19aug05" /> (1953)

==Awards and honors== * 1985 Distinguished Daytonian<ref name="DDN25mar85">{{cite news |title='Distinguished Daytonians' are named |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/406968984/?terms=distinguished%2Bdaytonian |accessdate=14 December 2018 |work=Dayton Daily News |date=March 25, 1985}}</ref> * 1994 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Dayton<ref name="UD21sept05" /> * 2003 Dayton Walk of Fame<ref name="klineDDN23oct03">{{cite news |last1=Kline |first1=Benjamin |title=Eight inducted into city's Walk of Fame |work=Dayton Daily News |date=Oct 23, 2003}}</ref> * 2006 Rosamond M. Young Memorial Scholarship established <ref name="daltoncurt15"/> * 2015 Special Recognition, Stivers Hall of Fame<ref name="stivers" />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/page/page/5868426.htm Roz Young's columns on area history]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Roz}} Category:1912 births Category:2005 deaths Category:Journalists from Ohio Category:20th-century American women journalists Category:American women columnists Category:Educators from Ohio Category:American women educators Category:20th-century American journalists Category:20th-century American women writers Category:21st-century American journalists Category:21st-century American women journalists Category:21st-century American women writers Category:Writers from Dayton, Ohio Category:Oberlin College alumni