Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings" - New World

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[[Image:Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.jpg|thumb|Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings photo taken by [[Carl Van Vechten]], 1953]]
 
[[Image:Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.jpg|thumb|Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings photo taken by [[Carl Van Vechten]], 1953]]
'''Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings''' (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953) was an [[United States|American]] author who lived in  rural [[Florida]] and wrote novels with rural themes and settings.  Her best known work, ''[[The Yearling]]'', about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn, won a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for fiction in 1939 and was later made into a movie, also known as ''[[The Yearling (film)|The Yearling]]''.
 
  
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'''Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings''' (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953) was an [[United States|American]] author who lived in  rural [[Florida]] and wrote novels with rural themes and settings.  Her best known work, ''[[The Yearling]]'', about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn, won a [[Pulitzer Prize]] for fiction in 1939 and was later made into a movie, also known as ''[[The Yearling (film)|The Yearling]]'', starring [[Spencer Tracey]].
 +
As a pioneer environmentalist, and a supporter of civil rights
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==Biography==
 
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was born in 1896 in [[Washington, DC]].  She attended the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]. She received a degree in English in 1918, then married [[Charles Rawlings]], also a writer, in 1919. The couple moved to [[Louisville, Kentucky]] and then [[Rochester, New York]], where they both worked as journalists for various newspapers. In 1928, with a small inheritance from her mother, the Rawlingses purchased a 72 acre (290,000 m²) orange grove near [[Hawthorne, Florida]], in a hamlet named [[Cross Creek, Florida|Cross Creek]] for its location between [[Orange Lake, (Florida)|Orange Lake]] and [[Lochloosa Lake]].  She brought the place to international fame through her writing.
 
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was born in 1896 in [[Washington, DC]].  She attended the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]]. She received a degree in English in 1918, then married [[Charles Rawlings]], also a writer, in 1919. The couple moved to [[Louisville, Kentucky]] and then [[Rochester, New York]], where they both worked as journalists for various newspapers. In 1928, with a small inheritance from her mother, the Rawlingses purchased a 72 acre (290,000 m²) orange grove near [[Hawthorne, Florida]], in a hamlet named [[Cross Creek, Florida|Cross Creek]] for its location between [[Orange Lake, (Florida)|Orange Lake]] and [[Lochloosa Lake]].  She brought the place to international fame through her writing.
  
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Her first novel, ''South Moon Under'', was published in 1933. The book captured of the richness of Cross Creek and its environs. That same year, she and her husband were divorced. One of her least well received books, ''Golden Apples'', came out in 1935. But, she struck gold in 1938 with ''The Yearling''.
 
Her first novel, ''South Moon Under'', was published in 1933. The book captured of the richness of Cross Creek and its environs. That same year, she and her husband were divorced. One of her least well received books, ''Golden Apples'', came out in 1935. But, she struck gold in 1938 with ''The Yearling''.
 +
 
  
Her editor was the legendary [[Maxwell Perkins]] of Scribner’s.  Over the years, she built friendships with fellow writers [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Thomas Wolfe]], [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], [[Robert Frost]] and [[Margaret Mitchell]].  Marjorie also became a [[civil rights]] advocate and befriended and corresponded with [[Mary McLeod Bethune]] and [[Zora Neale Hurston]].  She described her African-American employee Idella as "the perfect maid."  Their relationship is described in the book ''Idella: Marjorie Rawlings' "Perfect Maid"'', by Idella Parker and Mary Keating.
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With money she made from ''The Yearling,'' Rawlings bought a beach cottage at [[Crescent Beach, Florida|Crescent Beach]], ten miles south of [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]].  In 1941 she married [[Ocala, Florida|Ocala]] hotelier Norton Baskin, and he remodeled an old mansion into the Castle Warden Hotel in St. Augustine.  After [[World War II]], he sold the hotel and managed the Dolphin Restaurant at [[Marineland of Florida|Marineland]], which was then Florida's number one tourist attraction.  Rawlings and Baskin made their primary home at Crescent Beach.
  
With money she made from ''The Yearling,'' Rawlings bought a beach cottage at [[Crescent Beach, Florida|Crescent Beach]], ten miles south of [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]].  In 1941 she married [[Ocala, Florida|Ocala]] hotelier Norton Baskin, and he remodeled an old mansion into the Castle Warden Hotel in St. Augustine. After [[World War II]], he sold the hotel and managed the Dolphin Restaurant at [[Marineland of Florida|Marineland]], which was then Florida's number one tourist attraction. Rawlings and Baskin made their primary home at Crescent Beach.
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Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings died in 1953 in St. Augustine of a [[cerebral hemorrhage]].  She bequeathed most of her property to the [[University of Florida]] in [[Gainesville, Florida|Gainesville]], where she taught creative writing in [[Anderson Hall (Gainesville, Florida)|Anderson Hall]].  In return, her name was given to a new dormotory dedicated in 1958 as Rawlings Hall<ref>[http://www.housing.ufl.edu/housing/Facilities_TourPages/rawlings.htm UF Housing Facilities - Rawlings Hall]</ref> which occupies prime real estate in the heart of campus.  Her land at Cross Creek is now the [[Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park]].[http://www.floridastateparks.org/marjoriekinnanrawlings/ "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park"]
  
Sued for [[libel]] for her book ''Cross Creek,'' by her former friend Zelma Cason, Rawlings never wrote another book about Florida, but she did write a final novel, ''The Sojourner,'' with a northern setting.  In order to absorb the natural setting so vital to her writing, she bought an old farmhouse in [[Stark, New  York|Van Hornesville, New York]] and spent part of each year there until her death.
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Norton Baskin survived her by 44 years, passing away in 1997.  They are buried side-by-side at [[Antioch Cemetery]] near [[Island Grove, Florida]].  Rawlings' tombstone, with Baskin's inscription, reads ''Through her writing she endeared herself to the people of the world''.
  
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings died in 1953 in St. Augustine of a [[cerebral hemorrhage]].  She bequeathed most of her property to the [[University of Florida]] in [[Gainesville, Florida|Gainesville]], where she taught creative writing in [[Anderson Hall (Gainesville, Florida)|Anderson Hall]].  In return, her name was given to a new dormotory dedicated in 1958 as Rawlings Hall<ref>[http://www.housing.ufl.edu/housing/Facilities_TourPages/rawlings.htm UF Housing Facilities - Rawlings Hall]</ref> which occupies prime real estate in the heart of campus.  Her land at Cross Creek is now the [[Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park]].
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A posthumously-published children's book, ''The Secret River,'' won a [[Newbery Honor]] in 1956.
  
Norton Baskin survived her by 44 years, passing away in 1997. They are buried side-by-side at [[Antioch Cemetery]] near [[Island Grove, Florida]].  Rawlings' tombstone, with Baskin's inscription, reads "Through her writing she endeared herself to the people of the world.
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==Writing==
 +
Her editor was the legendary [[Maxwell Perkins]] of Scribner’s.  Over the years, she built friendships with fellow writers [[Ernest Hemingway]], [[Thomas Wolfe]], [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]], [[Robert Frost]] and [[Margaret Mitchell]].  Marjorie also became a [[civil rights]] advocate and befriended and corresponded with [[Mary McLeod Bethune]] and [[Zora Neale Hurston]].
  
As a pioneer environmentalist, an independent woman, and a supporter of civil rights at a time when few white southerners were willing to take that stand, Rawlings' reputation has managed to outlive those of many of her contemporaries.  A posthumously-published children's book, ''The Secret River,'' won a [[Newbery Honor]] in 1956, and movies were made, long after her death, of her story ''Gal Young 'Un,'' and her semi-fictionalized memoir ''Cross Creek'' (Norton Baskin, then in his eighties, made a cameo appearance in the latter movie).  
+
Sued for [[libel]] for her book ''Cross Creek,'' by her former friend Zelma Cason, Rawlings never wrote another book about Florida, but she did write a final novel, ''The Sojourner,'' with a northern setting.  In order to absorb the natural setting so vital to her writing, she bought an old farmhouse in [[Stark, New  York|Van Hornesville, New York]] and spent part of each year there until her death.
 +
 
 +
==Filmology==
 +
and movies were made, long after her death, of her story ''Gal Young 'Un,'' and her semi-fictionalized memoir ''Cross Creek'' (Norton Baskin, then in his eighties, made a cameo appearance in the latter movie).
  
 
==Works==
 
==Works==
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==References==
 
==References==
 +
*"Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings." ''Dictionary of American Biography, American Council of Learned Societies'', 1977. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center.'' Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
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*"Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings." ''St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, 2nd ed.'' St. James Press. 1999. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center.'' Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
 +
*"Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings," ''Contemporary Authors Online,'' Gale, 2007. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center,'' Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2007.
 +
*"Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings," ''Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography Supplemnent:Modern Writers, 1900-1998. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center.'' Farmington Hills, Mich.:Thomson Gale, 2007.
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==Notes==
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<div class="references-small">
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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</div>
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==

Revision as of 14:53, 21 May 2007

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 1953

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (August 8, 1896 – December 14, 1953) was an American author who lived in rural Florida and wrote novels with rural themes and settings. Her best known work, The Yearling, about a boy who adopts an orphaned fawn, won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1939 and was later made into a movie, also known as The Yearling, starring Spencer Tracey. As a pioneer environmentalist, and a supporter of civil rights

Biography

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was born in 1896 in Washington, DC. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received a degree in English in 1918, then married Charles Rawlings, also a writer, in 1919. The couple moved to Louisville, Kentucky and then Rochester, New York, where they both worked as journalists for various newspapers. In 1928, with a small inheritance from her mother, the Rawlingses purchased a 72 acre (290,000 m²) orange grove near Hawthorne, Florida, in a hamlet named Cross Creek for its location between Orange Lake and Lochloosa Lake. She brought the place to international fame through her writing.

She was fascinated with the remote wilderness and the lives of the Florida Crackers. Wary at first, the local residents soon warmed to her and opened up their lives and experiences to her. Marjorie filled several notebooks with descriptions.

Her first novel, South Moon Under, was published in 1933. The book captured of the richness of Cross Creek and its environs. That same year, she and her husband were divorced. One of her least well received books, Golden Apples, came out in 1935. But, she struck gold in 1938 with The Yearling.


With money she made from The Yearling, Rawlings bought a beach cottage at Crescent Beach, ten miles south of St. Augustine. In 1941 she married Ocala hotelier Norton Baskin, and he remodeled an old mansion into the Castle Warden Hotel in St. Augustine. After World War II, he sold the hotel and managed the Dolphin Restaurant at Marineland, which was then Florida's number one tourist attraction. Rawlings and Baskin made their primary home at Crescent Beach.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings died in 1953 in St. Augustine of a cerebral hemorrhage. She bequeathed most of her property to the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she taught creative writing in Anderson Hall. In return, her name was given to a new dormotory dedicated in 1958 as Rawlings Hall[1] which occupies prime real estate in the heart of campus. Her land at Cross Creek is now the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park."Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park"

Norton Baskin survived her by 44 years, passing away in 1997. They are buried side-by-side at Antioch Cemetery near Island Grove, Florida. Rawlings' tombstone, with Baskin's inscription, reads Through her writing she endeared herself to the people of the world.

A posthumously-published children's book, The Secret River, won a Newbery Honor in 1956.

Writing

Her editor was the legendary Maxwell Perkins of Scribner’s. Over the years, she built friendships with fellow writers Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Frost and Margaret Mitchell. Marjorie also became a civil rights advocate and befriended and corresponded with Mary McLeod Bethune and Zora Neale Hurston.

Sued for libel for her book Cross Creek, by her former friend Zelma Cason, Rawlings never wrote another book about Florida, but she did write a final novel, The Sojourner, with a northern setting. In order to absorb the natural setting so vital to her writing, she bought an old farmhouse in Van Hornesville, New York and spent part of each year there until her death.

Filmology

and movies were made, long after her death, of her story Gal Young 'Un, and her semi-fictionalized memoir Cross Creek (Norton Baskin, then in his eighties, made a cameo appearance in the latter movie).

Works

  • 1933 South Moon Under
  • 1935 Golden Apples
  • 1938 The Yearling
  • 1940 When the Whippoorwill
  • 1942 Cross Creek
  • 1942 Cross Creek Cookery
  • 1953 The Sojourner

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings." Dictionary of American Biography, American Council of Learned Societies, 1977. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
  • "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings." St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, 2nd ed. St. James Press. 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
  • "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings," Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center, Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2007.
  • "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings," Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography Supplemnent:Modern Writers, 1900-1998. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.:Thomson Gale, 2007.

Notes

External links

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