Editing Ursula K. Le Guin (section)

=== Childhood and education ===
[[File:Ishi.jpg|thumb|right|Ursula's father, [[Alfred Kroeber]], with [[Ishi]], the last of the [[Yahi]] people (1911)]]
Ursula Kroeber was born in [[Berkeley, California]], on October 21, 1929. Her father, [[Alfred L. Kroeber|Alfred Louis Kroeber]], was an [[anthropologist]] at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=1}}<ref name="NYT obit">{{Cite news |last=Jonas |first=Gerald |date=January 23, 2018 |title=Ursula K. Le Guin, Acclaimed for Her Fantasy Fiction, Is Dead at 88 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/obituaries/ursula-k-le-guin-acclaimed-for-her-fantasy-fiction-is-dead-at-88.html |access-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123221310/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/obituaries/ursula-k-le-guin-acclaimed-for-her-fantasy-fiction-is-dead-at-88.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Le Guin's mother, [[Theodora Kroeber]] (born Theodora Covel Kracaw), had a graduate degree in psychology, but turned to writing in her 60s, developing a successful career as an author. Among her works was ''[[Ishi in Two Worlds]]'' (1961), a biographical volume about [[Ishi]], an [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American]] who had been studied by Alfred Kroeber. Ishi was the last known member of the [[Yahi]] tribe after the rest of its members died or (mostly) were killed by white colonizers.{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=1}}{{sfn|Cummins|1990|p=2}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hallowell |first=A. Irving |date=1962 |title=Theodora Kroeber. Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America |journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |volume=340 |issue=1 |pages=164–165 |doi=10.1177/000271626234000162|s2cid=145429704 }}</ref>

Le Guin had three older brothers: [[Karl Kroeber|Karl]], who became a literary scholar, Theodore, and Clifton.<!--The name "Clifton" is taken from Theodora Kroeber's writing: "Clifford" is incorrectly used by Spivack.-->{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=2}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kroeber |first=Theodora |url=https://archive.org/details/alfredkroeberper00kroe_0 |title=Alfred Kroeber; a Personal Configuration |publisher=University of California Press |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-520-01598-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/alfredkroeberper00kroe_0/page/287 287] |author-link=Theodora Kroeber |url-access=registration}}</ref> The family had a large book collection, and the siblings all became interested in reading while they were young.{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=2}} The Kroeber family had a number of visitors, including well-known academics such as [[Robert Oppenheimer]]; Le Guin would later use Oppenheimer as the model for Shevek, the physicist protagonist of ''[[The Dispossessed]]''.{{sfn|Cummins|1990|p=2}}{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=2}} The family divided its time between a summer home in the [[Napa Valley]], and a house in Berkeley during the academic year.{{sfn|Cummins|1990|p=2}}

Le Guin's reading included science fiction and fantasy: she and her siblings frequently read issues of ''[[Thrilling Wonder Stories]]'' and ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]''. She was fond of myths and legends, particularly [[Norse mythology]], and of Native American legends that her father would narrate. Other authors she enjoyed were [[Lord Dunsany]] and [[Lewis Padgett]].{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=2}} Le Guin also developed an early interest in writing; she wrote a short story when she was nine, and submitted her first short story to ''Astounding Science Fiction'' when she was 11. The piece was rejected, and she did not submit anything else for another 10 years.{{sfn|White|1999|p=2}}{{sfn|Spivack|1984|pp=2–3}}<ref name="Vice Interview">{{Cite journal |last=Lafreniere |first=Steve |date=December 2008 |title=Ursula K. Le Guin |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/ursula-k-le-guin-440-v15n12/ |journal=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709072611/http://www.viceland.com/int/v15n12/htdocs/ursula-k-le-guin-440.php |archive-date=July 9, 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref>

Le Guin attended [[Berkeley High School (California)|Berkeley High School]].{{sfn|Cummins|1990|p=3}} She received her [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in Renaissance French and Italian literature from [[Radcliffe College]] of [[Harvard University]] in 1951, and graduated as a member of the [[Phi Beta Kappa]] honor society.{{sfn|Reid|1997|p=5}} As a child she had been interested in biology and poetry, but had been limited in her choice of career by her difficulties with mathematics.{{sfn|Reid|1997|p=5}} Le Guin undertook graduate studies at [[Columbia University]], and earned a [[Master of Arts]] degree in French in 1952.{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=3}} Soon after, she began working towards a [[PhD]], and won a [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright]] grant to continue her studies in France from 1953 to 1954.{{sfn|Cummins|1990|p=2}}{{sfn|Spivack|1984|p=3}}