Hadley Irwin is the pen name of Lee Hadley and Ann Irwin. According to Hadley and Irwin, the name "Hadley Irwin" identified an entity that is separate from each individual. Both women are professors on the English faculty at Iowa State University. Both credit their students with having taught them that the same concerns, problems, and emotions are shared by younger and older adults alike. Ann Irwin, in addition, credits the rearing of her own children with having increased her sensitivity to the needs of young people. Lee Hadley attributes some of her insights regarding young people to memories of her own adolescence and her "survival of it."

Lee Hadley and Ann Irwin share similar backgrounds. Both grew up on farms in Iowa; both were teachers at junior high, high school, and college levels; both were born under the sign of Libra; both lead...