Maria Thomas

Roberta Worrick (born Roberta Thomas; July 6, 1941 – August 7, 1989), better known by her pen name Maria Thomas, was an American writer who published a novel, short stories, and essays. Much of her writing was set in, or was about, various countries in Africa, where she lived and worked for most of her professional life. Her writing earned numerous awards and widespread critical praise. Her death at age 48, in a plane crash in Ethiopia, cut short a successful and promising literary career.