Fanny Fern was an American novelist, children's author, humorist, and newspaper columnist from the 1850s until the 1870s. Her appeal has been attributed to a conversational approach and an understanding of what was important to her primarily middle-class female audience. By 1855, Fern was the highest-paid columnist in the United States, earning $100 per week for her New York Ledger column. A collection of her columns released in 1853 sold 70,000 copies in its first year. Her most famous work, the fictional autobiography Ruth Hall (1854), has become a favorite among feminist literary students. Sara Payson Willis was born in Portland, Maine, to Nathaniel Willis, a newspaper proprietor, and Hannah Parker, his wife. She was the sixth of their nine kids. Her older brother, Nathaniel Parker Willis, rose to prominence as a journalist and magazine owner. Richard Storrs Willis, her younger brother, became a musician and music journalist, well known for creating the tune for "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear". Her other siblings included Lucy Douglas (born 1804), Louisa Harris (1807), Julia Dean (1809), Mary Perry (1813), Edward Payson (1816), and Ellen Holmes Willis (1821).