Georgess McHargue, author of books for young readers

Over years of surgery, chemotherapy, remission, and finally metastacy, she aptly described herself as “dancing with cancer,’’ he said. “The cancer was making moves, and she was making countermoves.’’

At a celebration of her birthday on June 20, he said, “For the last seven or eight years, she took the lead in the dance, and now the lead appears to be changing.’’

She decided to stop chemotherapy and died under hospice care at her home of metastatic breast cancer on July 18. Ms. McHargue, author of 35 books for children and young adults, some focused on archaeology, myth, and history, had turned 70 on June 7.

At her birthday party, Ms. McHargue, an alto, sang “Bring Me a Rose in the Wintertime’’ with two longtime friends and fellow members of the Nashoba Valley Chorale, Barbara Murray of Groton and Ruth Treen of Harwich Port.

Mairi McHargue Elliott of Groton said her mother’s choice of dancing rather than battling with cancer “was something more poetic. It wasn’t a dance but a standoff, defiant. From mother, I learned to take life by the horns and to follow my heart over my brain. Her vast knowledge guided her, but her heart gave her the answers.’’

Her death was mourned by her family and countless friends, those who worked with her on town affairs - she was a founding member of the Groton Town Democratic Committee - and in the trenches during political elections as poll watcher, sign-holder, and get-out-the-vote champion. She was also mourned by the many strangers who admired her rose garden.

“These are not hybrid roses, but rather from very old stock,’’ said Nancy Rosenberry Hoit of Hingham, a friend since childhood. “The garden was like a metaphor for G’s life - unconventional, poetic, colorful, informal, and for all to see and love. She knew the history of every rose, even back to the Tudor Era.’’

Many friends turned to her for answers before trying Google or an encyclopedia.