Lowry began her career as a freelance journalist. In the 1970s, she submitted a short story to "Redbook" magazine, which was intended for adult audiences but written from a child's perspective. An editor at Houghton Mifflin then suggested to Lowry that she write a children's book. Lowry agreed and wrote "A Summer to Die" which Houghton Mifflin published in 1977 when she was 40 years old. The book has themes of terminal illness, based on Lowry's own experiences with her sister Helen.