Claudia Harrington Kallmeyer

After years battling a brain tumor with hope and humor—and some choice pranks on her doctors—on Jan. 2, Claudia Harrington Kallmeyer passed away peacefully at home at age 60.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, to William R. Harrington and Patricia Phoenix Harrington, Claudia grew up in West Simsbury, Connecticut.

She began her writing career in kindergarten with a poem called “Scab On Her Head.” Despite that, she kept writing.

 Claudia graduated from Northwestern University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications with a concentration in theater, and in 1981 moved to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career.

Claudia could be seen in commercials, movies and television (she still can, if you watch enough late-night reruns).

In her day job, which became a passion of hers, Claudia was a real estate agent with Sotheby’s International Realty, ultimately selling homes on LA’s Westside with her business partner, Annika MacPherson.

In a 1983 production of the comedy “Goodbye My Fancy,” Claudia’s fellow actor Ken Kallmeyer took a ski to the face in a slapstick routine that went hilariously wrong. Claudia took pity on him, bringing him an ice pack during intermission. They were married two years later.

Claudia’s love for writing continued through all her pursuits (and the birth of her and Ken’s three children: Tess, Gretchen and Emmett).

Her poem “Coming Unscrewed” was included in Philomel’s anthology “I Invited a Dragon To Dinner & Other Poems To Make You Laugh Out Loud” (a Children’s Book Council Best Pick), and her 12 “My Family” picture book titles, celebrating family diversity, launched in 2015 from Magic Wagon, a division of Abdo Publishing.

Claudia’s crack-you-up early reader series from the same publisher, “Hank the Pet Sitter,” debuted at the end of 2016 with four titles, with another four currently being illustrated and due to publish in the coming year.

A volunteer for well over a decade with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Claudia served as regional advisor emeritas for its Los Angeles chapter.

Claudia is survived by her husband, Ken, their children, Tess, Gretchen and Emmett, and Claudia’s mother, Patricia.