Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
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Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in 1953
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| Born | Marjorie Kinnan August 8, 1896 Washington, D.C., United States |
| Died | December 14, 1953 (aged 57) St. Augustine, Florida, US |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1928–1953 |
| Genre | fiction, Florida history |
| Spouses |
Charles Rawlings
(m. 1919; div. 1933)Norton Baskin
(m. 1941) |
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (born August 8, 1896 – died December 14, 1953) was an American author. She lived in rural Florida and wrote many stories and novels about life in the countryside.
Her most famous book is The Yearling. It's about a boy who takes care of an orphaned baby deer. This book won a Pulitzer Prize in 1939. Later, it was made into a movie. Even though it was written a long time ago, The Yearling is often read by teenagers today.
Contents
Marjorie's Early Life and Writing Dreams
Marjorie Kinnan was born in 1896 in Washington, D.C. Her father was a lawyer. From a very young age, she loved writing. She started sending her stories to children's newspaper sections when she was only six years old. When she was 15, she won a prize for her story called "The Reincarnation of Miss Hetty."
She went to the University of Wisconsin–Madison and earned a degree in English in 1918. While working on the school's literary magazine, she met Charles Rawlings. They got married in 1919. Marjorie worked for a while in New York City. Later, she and Charles moved to other cities, where Marjorie wrote a newspaper column called "Songs of the Housewife."
Moving to Florida's Cross Creek
In 1928, Marjorie and Charles bought a large orange grove in a small place called Cross Creek, Florida. It was located between two lakes. Marjorie was fascinated by the wild nature and the people who lived there, her "Florida cracker" neighbors. She felt a deep connection to the land.
At first, the local people were a bit unsure about her. But soon, they became friendly and shared their lives with her. Marjorie even visited a family named the Longs many times. Their family life became the inspiration for the family in her famous novel, The Yearling. Marjorie filled many notebooks with details about the animals, plants, local ways of speaking, and recipes. She used all these details in her books.
Marjorie's Writing Career
Marjorie's editor, Maxwell Perkins, was very impressed by her letters about life in Cross Creek. He encouraged her to write stories set in the Florida countryside. In 1930, her first two stories about the poor, country people of Florida were published. Some local people were confused by her stories, and one mother even got angry because she thought her son was in a story.
Her first novel, South Moon Under, came out in 1933. It was about a young man who made and sold moonshine (illegal alcohol). To write this book, Marjorie even lived with a moonshiner for several weeks! The book was very popular and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
In the same year, she and her husband Charles got divorced. He didn't enjoy living in rural Florida as much as she did.
In 1938, Marjorie found huge success with The Yearling. This story about a Florida boy and his pet deer was originally meant for young readers. It became incredibly popular and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1939. A movie version was released in 1946, which made her very famous.
In 1942, Rawlings published Cross Creek. This book was about her own life and relationships with her neighbors in Florida. It was so popular that a special edition was sent to soldiers during World War II.
Marjorie's last novel, The Sojourner, was published in 1953. It was set in the northern part of the country. To write it, she bought an old farmhouse in Van Hornesville, New York, and spent part of each year there. This book was not as well-received as her Florida stories. She published 33 short stories during her career.
Privacy Case: Cross Creek Lawsuit
In 1943, Marjorie faced a lawsuit because of her book Cross Creek. Her neighbor, Zelma Cason, sued her for privacy invasion. Marjorie had used Zelma's first name in the book and described her in a way that Zelma felt was unfair.
Marjorie won the case at first, but the decision was later changed, and she had to pay a small amount of money. The lawsuit was very stressful for Marjorie. She was shocked by her neighbor's reaction and felt betrayed. After this, she spent less time in Cross Creek and never wrote another book about Florida.
Marjorie's Personal Life
With the money she earned from The Yearling, Marjorie bought a beach house at Crescent Beach. In 1941, she married Norton Baskin, a hotel owner. They had an agreement: she would write, and he would run his hotel. They lived at Crescent Beach, and Marjorie also spent half the year at her New York farmhouse.
Marjorie loved to cook. She said she got as much joy from making a perfect dinner for friends as from writing a perfect paragraph. She also became friends with important African-American writers like Mary McLeod Bethune and Zora Neale Hurston. Zora Neale Hurston even stayed at Marjorie's home, which was unusual for the time because of racial segregation.
Biographers have noted that Marjorie often wished for a son, a theme that appeared in her stories, especially The Yearling. She also strongly disliked cities, writing a poem about leaving them behind.
The Story of GeeChee
In her book Cross Creek, Marjorie wrote about a woman named Beatrice, who she hired to help her. Beatrice was known as "GeeChee" because she was part of the GeeChee people. GeeChee worked for Marjorie for almost two years.
GeeChee told Marjorie that her boyfriend, Leroy, was in prison. Marjorie helped him get out on parole to work on her farm. She even held a wedding for Beatrice and Leroy at her home. However, Leroy soon became demanding and threatened Marjorie. She decided he had to leave. GeeChee eventually left too, which saddened Marjorie greatly. Marjorie later found GeeChee and brought her back, but finally, with a heavy heart, she had to let her go. Marjorie wrote that GeeChee left an "emptiness" in her heart.
When Cross Creek was made into a movie in 1983, the actress Alfre Woodard was nominated for an award for playing GeeChee.
Marjorie's Legacy and Death
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings died in 1953 in St. Augustine from a brain hemorrhage. She left most of her property to the University of Florida. A dormitory there, Rawlings Hall, was named in her honor.
Her home at Cross Creek is now the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, where visitors can learn about her life. Norton Baskin, her husband, lived for many years after her and is buried beside her. Their tombstone says, "Through her writing she endeared herself to the people of the world."
After her death, a children's book she wrote, The Secret River, won a Newbery Honor in 1956. Other movies were also made from her stories. In 1986, she was added to the Florida Women's Hall of Fame. In 2008, the United States Postal Service even put her image on a stamp! She was named a Great Floridian in 2009 for her contributions to Florida. Several schools are also named after her.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' Books
Short Stories
- 1912 "The Reincarnation of Miss Hetty"
- 1931 "Cracker Chidlins"
- 1931 "Jacob's Ladder"
- 1932 "A Crop of Beans"
- 1932 "Gal Young Un" (Won the O. Henry Award in 1932)
- 1933 "Hyacinth Drift"
- 1933 "Alligators"
- 1933 "Benny and the Bird Dogs"
- 1934 "The Pardon"
- 1936 "A Mother in Mannville"
- 1936 "Varmints"
- 1938 "Mountain Rain"
- 1939 "I Sing While I Cook" (nonfiction)
- 1939 "Cocks Must Crow"
- 1940 "The Pelican's Shadow"
- 1940 "The Enemy"
- 1941 "Jessamine Springs"
- 1941 "The Provider"
- 1942 "Fanny, You Fool!"
- 1944 "Shell"
- 1945 "Black Secret"
- 1945 "Miriam's Houses"
- 1940 "In The Heart"
Novels and Story Collections
- 1928 Blood of My Blood
- 1933 South Moon Under
- 1935 Golden Apples
- 1938 The Yearling (made into a film in 1946)
- 1940 When the Whippoorwill
- 1942 Cross Creek (made into a film in 1983)
- 1942 Cross Creek Cookery
- 1947 "Mountain Prelude" (made into film as The Sun Comes Up in 1950)
- 1949 "The Friendship"
- 1950 Jacob's Ladder
- 1953 The Sojourner
- 1955 The Secret River
Some of her books, like South Moon Under, The Yearling, and Cross Creek, were printed in special editions for soldiers during World War II.
Images for kids
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Rawlings' home at Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park in Cross Creek, Florida
See also
In Spanish: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings para niños
