Hope Elaine Ryden was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on August 1, 1929. In 1951, she received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa. Afterward, she was a fashion model and a flight attendant. In 1958, she was a crew member aboard Pan Am's inaugural trans-Atlantic jet passenger flight. She developed a passion for photography during breaks abroad.
In 1961, she joined Robert Drew & Associates, a noted documentary production company. She later worked for ABC News. She was a writer, director, and producer of documentary films. Her books on wildlife included America's Last Wild Horses, God's Dog: A Celebration of the North American Coyote, Bobcat Year, Wild Animals of America ABC, and Lily Pond: Four Years with a Family of Beavers. She also wrote for National Geographic, Audubon, Smithsonian, and The New York Times Magazine. Her documentaries featured the actress Jane Fonda at 25 as she prepared for her starring role in The Fun Couple on Broadway, two Peace Corps nurses in Malaya, and a Boston man who saved some 9,000 animals in Suriname from starvation or drowning. She died from complications of hip surgery on June 18, 2017 at the age of 87.
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