Ellis Peters is the pen name of Edith Pargeter, author of the Brother Cadfael mysteries. Among her many awards, she received the British Crime Writers Association's Silver Dagger award, as well as the Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America. In 1994, she was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE), by Queen Elizabeth II. In addition, she received an honorary MA from University of Birmingham , as well as the Gold Medal and Ribbon from the czechoslovak Society for International Relations for her translations of English classics into Czech. A resident of Shropshire, England, Ms. Peters died in 1995, at the age of 82.