Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to a Hungarian-born Jewish storekeeper and his Milwaukee, Wisconsin-born wife, Jacob Charles and Julia (Neumann) Ferber. After living in Chicago, Illinois, and Ottumwa, Iowa, at the age of 12 Ferber and her family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where she graduated from high school and briefly attended Lawrence University. She took newspaper jobs at the Appleton Daily Crescent and the Milwaukee Journal before publishing her first novel. She covered the 1920 Republican National Convention and 1920 Democratic National Convention for the United Press Association. Ferber's novels generally featured strong female protagonists, along
with a rich and diverse collection of supporting characters. She usually
highlighted at least one strong secondary character who faced
discrimination ethnically or for other reasons; through this technique,
Ferber demonstrated her belief that people are people and that the
not-so-pretty persons have the best character.
Several theatrical and film productions have been based on her works, including Show Boat, Giant, Ice Palace, Saratoga Trunk, Cimarron (which won an Oscar) and the 1960 remake. Three of these works - Show Boat, Saratoga Trunk and Giant - have been developed into musicals.
