Anne McCaffrey was born in 1926 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and published her first novel in 1967. The author of the celebrated Dragonriders of Pern series, McCaffrey was known for her groundbreaking portrayal of women as heroic protagonists, and for her unique combination of science fiction and fantasy. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award, and in 2005 was named a grand master of science fiction. She lived in County Wicklow, Ireland, in a house of her own design, Dragonhold-Underhill, until her death in 2011.