Margaret Ryan (1944-2019) was a children's writer who lived in St. Andrews, Scotland. She was born and raised in the town of Paisley, Scotland. She went to Glasgow University, where she met her husband, John, at a dance. She and John had two grown-up children, Susie and Jonathan. She was the writer of the Airy Fairy books. She had a long career as a primary school teacher before becoming a full-time writer for children. She shared her name with a young Welsh Baroness.