Chute, Carolyn (1947–)

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Chute, Carolyn (1947–)

American novelist. Born Carolyn Penny, June 14, 1947, in Portland, Maine; dau. of Joseph R. and Annie Prindall Penny; attended University of Southern Maine, 1972–78; m. James Hawkes (factory worker), 1963 (div. 1972); m. Michael Chute, 1978; children: (1st m.) Joannah Hawkes Bowie; (2nd m.) Reuben (died).

Dropped out of high school and married at 16; lived in poverty, variously employed as a waitress, chicken factory worker, hospital floor scrubber, potato farmer, teacher, social worker, and school bus driver; wrote a column for Currier Free Press (1978–79); wrote the bestselling The Beans of Egypt, Maine (1985), followed by Metal Man (1988); also wrote Letourneau's Used Auto Parts and Snow Man (1999); member of a "no-wing" militia.