She was born on the 31st of October, 1932 in Qing Jiang, China to George and Mary Womeldor. Her father was a principal at a school for girls. He traveled throughout China as part of his duties regarding missionary. This made their family live in China and they got themselves involved in Chinese culture.
During Japanese invasion in 1937, their family was forced to leave China and Katherine was five years old then. They moved to Richmond and after a little while they returned to Shanghai, China. In 1940, they were again forced to leave china and they went to settle in North Carolina.
Katherine father's missionary work along with the war in China, caused their family to shifts places 15 times in 13 years. Occasional change of places and estrangement at school by the fellow students made Katherine turn to writing. She wrote many plays at school and she slowly overcame her difficulty in reading and writing English as her first language is Chinese. In 1954, she graduated with a degree in English and she spent a whole year teaching at an elementary school in Virginia. Eventually, she received a Master's degree from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education.
She hoped to be a missionary in China but it was not possible for western people. With the help of a Japanese friend, she went to Japan and worked as a missionary and christian education instructor. After working there for four years, she went back to New York and got her second Master's degree. There she married John Paterson whom she married on July 14, 1962. They had four children eventually.
Writing
She began writing professionally in Presbyterian Church while teaching sunday classes. She wrote her first novel Who Am I? in 1966. The Sign of the Chrysanthemum, her first children's novel was published in the year 1973. It is a Japanese fairy tale based on Paterson's studies in Japan. Her most recognized book till date, Bridge to Terabithia was published in the year 1977 and it got instantly popular and she became instantly famous. Due to some difficult themes, this book provoked controversies. Few of her other books also have some complex themes.
She got many awards for her help to literature. These awards include the National Book Award for her books Master Puppeteer in the year 1976 and for the book The Great Gilly Hopkins in the year 1979. She was awarded with the Newbery Medal for the book Bridge to Terabithia in the year 1977 and for the book Jacob Have I Loved in the year 1981. She got the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, Jip, His Story in the year 1996. She also got the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in the year 1998 and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2006.
