Lee Bennett Hopkins (April 13, 1938 – August 8, 2019) was an American educator, poet, author, and anthologist.
When he was 13 his parents divorced and he moved with his mother and siblings to a low-income housing project in Newark, New Jersey.
After high school he enrolled in Newark State Teachers College (now Kean University) in Union, New Jersey, where he majored in education.
After graduating in 1960 he taught sixth grade at Westmoreland Elementary in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and pursued a master's degree at Bank Street College of Education in New York City.
In 2016, Hopkins received the prestigious Regina Medal award sponsored by the Catholic Library Association.