Remembered for both her children's literature and her poetry, she published such acclaimed works as The Most Wonderful Doll in the World (1950), Boys Are Awful (1962), and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times Three: Selected Verse from Three Decades (1960).
Before beginning her literary career, she taught school, worked as a Journalist, was employed by an ad agency, and earned a degree in musical theatre from the University of Utah. She published her first poetry collection, On the Contrary, in 1934.
She appeared on the June 1965 cover of Time magazine.
Born in Oregon to Julia and Daniel McGinley, she later married Charles Hayden and raised two children, including a Writer daughter named Julie Hayden.
Fellow poet Sylvia Plath criticized McGinley for her use of light verse.
