Dorothy Gilman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dorothy Gilman
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Dorothy Edith Gilman June 25, 1923 New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | February 2, 2012 (aged 88) Rye Brook, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable works | The Mrs. Pollifax series |
Dorothy Edith Gilman (June 25, 1923 – February 2, 2012) was an American writer. She is best known for the Mrs. Pollifax series. Begun in a time when women in mystery meant Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and international espionage meant young government men like James Bond and the spies of John le Carré and Graham Greene, Emily Pollifax, her heroine, became a spy in her 60s and is very likely the only spy in literature to belong simultaneously to the CIA and the local garden club.
In 2010 Gilman was awarded the annual Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America.
In 2012, she died at age 88 of complications of Alzheimer's disease.
Works
As Dorothy Gilman Butters
Under her married name, Dorothy Gilman Butters, she wrote books for young adults (except as noted) beginning in the late 1940s:
- Enchanted Caravan (1949) (ASIN B0006ary4y)
- Carnival Gypsy (1950) (ASIN B000jkb0oq)
- Ragamuffin Alley (1951) (ASIN B0006astpm)
- The Calico Year (1953) (ASIN B000gabx14)
- Four Party Line (1954) (ASIN B001k36208)
- Papa Dolphin's Table (1955; for children) (ASIN B000moc1qk)
- Girl in Buckskin (1956)
- Heartbreak Street (1958) (ASIN B00209ktic)
- Witch's Silver (1959) (ASIN B0006avz6m)
- Masquerade (1961) (ASIN B0006ax1im)
- Heart's Design (Masquerade Republished) (1963) (ASIN B000ts8al4)
- Ten Leagues to Boston Town (1963) (ASIN B0006ay2v2)
- The Bells of Freedom (1963) (ASIN B001u11ad4)
She also contributed to Good Housekeeping, Jack and Jill, Redbook, Ladies' Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, The Writer, and other magazines.
She also contributed a chapter to the book, On Creative Writing, edited by Paul Engle (1964).
The Mrs. Pollifax series
Gilman began writing under her maiden name for the first book of the Mrs. Pollifax series, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. The heroine, the eccentric Emily Pollifax, is a 60-ish, bored, garden-clubbing grandmother, and widow. Considering her life without real purpose, she presents herself to the CIA, offering to serve as an agent. Initially recruited through a misunderstanding, she is excited, and a bit clueless about her role, but she quickly adapts to an unfortunate turn of events, and displays the common sense and grit that will guide her through future intrigues.
The series, which ended in 2000 with Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled, consists of fast-paced escapades filled with danger and intrigue in Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, China, Morocco, Zambia, Sicily, and elsewhere.
- The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1966)
- The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax (1970)
- The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax (1971)
- A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax (1973)
- Mrs. Pollifax on Safari (1977)
- Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station (1983)
- Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha (1985)
- Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle (1988)
- Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish (1990)
- Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief (1993)
- Mrs. Pollifax Pursued (1995)
- Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer (1996)
- Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist (1997)
- Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled (2000)
Other books
Additional books she wrote under the name Dorothy Gilman:
- Uncertain Voyage (1967)
- Clairvoyant Countess (1975)
- A Nun in the Closet (1975), Winner of the Catholic Book Award
- A New Kind of Country (1978) (reissued by Fawcett in 1989); (memoir), memoir of her life in a Nova Scotia village
- The Tightrope Walker (1979)
- The Maze in the Heart of the Castle (1983; for young adults)
- Incident at Badamya (1989)
- Caravan (1992)
- Thale's Folly (1999)
- Kaleidoscope: A Countess Karitska Novel (2002)
Film/TV adaptations
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax was filmed by United Artists in 1970 as Mrs. Pollifax-Spy starring Rosalind Russell. Angela Lansbury starred in the made-for-TV movie The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax in 1999.
