Taylor Caldwell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Taylor Caldwell
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Janet Miriam Caldwell September 7, 1900 Manchester, England |
| Died | August 30, 1985 (aged 84) Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Pen name | Marcus Holland, Max Reiner, J. Miriam Reback |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Education | University at Buffalo |
| Genre | Historical and religious fiction |
| Notable works | Dynasty of Death |
| Spouse | William F. Combs (1919-1931; divorced); 1 child Marcus Reback (1931-1971; his death); 1 child William Everett Stancell (1972-1973; union dissolved) William Robert Prestie (1978-1985; her death) |
Janet Miriam Caldwell (born September 7, 1900 – died August 30, 1985) was a very popular writer. She was born in Britain but became an American citizen. She wrote many books using different names like Taylor Caldwell, Marcus Holland, and Max Reiner. She was also known as J. Miriam Reback.
Taylor Caldwell often wrote stories based on real historical events or people. Some of her most famous books include Dynasty of Death, Dear and Glorious Physician (about Saint Luke), and Captains and the Kings. Her last big novel, Answer As a Man, came out in 1980.
Contents
About Taylor Caldwell's Life
Janet Miriam Caldwell was born in Manchester, England. Her family came from Scotland. When she was just six years old, she won a medal for an essay about the famous writer Charles Dickens.
In 1907, when she was seven, her family moved to the United States. Her father passed away soon after they moved, and her family faced tough times. At the age of eight, she started writing stories. She even wrote her first novel, The Romance of Atlantis, when she was only twelve! This book wasn't published until 1975, but she kept writing a lot, even when she wasn't feeling well.
From 1918 to 1919, she served in the United States Navy Reserve. In 1919, she married William F. Combs, and they had a daughter named Mary Margaret in 1920. Taylor Caldwell worked as a court reporter and later for the United States Department of Justice in Buffalo, New York.
She graduated from the University of Buffalo in 1931. After divorcing her first husband, she married Marcus Reback. They had a daughter named Judith Ann in 1932. Taylor Caldwell and Marcus Reback were married for 40 years until he passed away in 1971.
Becoming a Famous Author
In 1934, she started writing her novel Dynasty of Death with her husband, Marcus Reback. It was published in 1938 and quickly became a best-seller. At first, many people thought "Taylor Caldwell" was a man, so it was a surprise when everyone found out the author was a woman! Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, and many of them became best-sellers too. For example, This Side of Innocence was the top-selling fiction book in 1946.
Her books sold an amazing 30 million copies! She became very successful and traveled to Europe. Even though she was wealthy, she continued to live near Buffalo. Her books remained popular throughout her career. In 1979, she signed a deal for two novels worth $3.9 million.
Awards and Recognition
During her time as a writer, Taylor Caldwell received several awards:
- The National League of American Pen Women gold medal (1948)
- The Buffalo Evening News Award (1949)
- The Grand Prix Chatvain (1950)
Later Life and Interests
Taylor Caldwell was known for her strong conservative views. She wrote for a journal called American Opinion and was involved in starting the New York Conservative Party.
In 1971, her memoir, On Growing Up Tough, was published. Around 1970, she became interested in reincarnation, which is the idea that a soul can be reborn into a new body. She worked with an author named Jess Stearn, who thought the detailed descriptions in her historical novels might be memories from past lives. She agreed to try "past life regression" through hypnosis. According to Stearn's book, The Search for a Soul – Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives (1973), she began to recall eleven past lives, including one on the "lost" continent of Atlantis.
In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, but they divorced in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie. This caused some difficulties with her children.
In 1979, Taylor Caldwell had a stroke, which made it hard for her to speak, though she could still write. She had also been deaf since about 1965.
Taylor Caldwell's Death
Taylor Caldwell passed away in Greenwich, Connecticut, on August 30, 1985, at the age of 84. She died from lung problems caused by lung cancer.
Taylor Caldwell's Books
Dynasty of Death was her first published book. It was a long story about two families in Pennsylvania who built a huge weapons business, covering the years from 1837 to World War I. The story continued in The Eagles Gather (1940) and The Final Hour (1944).
As a writer, Taylor Caldwell was praised for her exciting and detailed stories. Her books often showed family problems and how the U.S. changed from a farming country to a leading industrial nation. Her main characters were often self-made men from different backgrounds, like the German immigrants in The Strong City (1942). She wrote about themes like intolerance (The Wide House, 1945), problems with raising children (Let Love Come Last, 1949), and the struggle between wanting power and money versus love and family values (Melissa (1948), A Prologue to Love (1962)).
In her later books, Caldwell explored the "American Dream" – the idea of going from being poor to rich. One of her last big best-sellers was Captains and the Kings (1972), which tells the story of a poor Irish immigrant who becomes wealthy in America in the 1800s. Captains and the Kings was even made into a television mini-series in 1976. Her last novel was Answer As a Man (1980). In 1952, she wrote The Devil's Advocate, a story set in a future where North America is a Communist dictatorship.
She wrote many historical novels, including several about famous religious figures. Dear and Glorious Physician (1959) was about Saint Luke; Great Lion of God (1970) was about Saint Paul; and I, Judas (1977) was about Judas Iscariot.
She also wrote fictional stories about real historical figures like Genghis Khan in The Earth Is the Lord's (1941), Cardinal Richelieu in The Arm and the Darkness (1943), the Roman senator Cicero in A Pillar of Iron (1965), and Aspasia, the partner of the Athenian leader Pericles, in Glory and the Lightning (1974).
Caldwell also explored religious ideas in some of her books. Answer As a Man starts and ends with themes of faith. Dialogues with the Devil (1967) is a story told through letters between Lucifer and Michael the Archangel. This book also includes old tales, stories about a lost continent, and ideas about religion.
Taylor Caldwell's Beliefs
Taylor Caldwell believed that human nature never changes. She wrote:
The nature of human beings never changes; it is immutable. The present generation of children and the present generation of young adults from the age of thirteen to eighteen is, therefore, no different from that of their great-great-grandparents. Political fads come and go; theories rise and fall; the scientific 'truth' of today becomes the discarded error of tomorrow. Man's ideas change, but not his inherent nature. That remains. So, if the children are monstrous today – even criminal – it is not because their natures have become polluted, but because they have not been taught better, nor disciplined. – On Growing Up Tough, chapter The Purple Lodge
In her 1957 article "Honoria," she wrote about a made-up country called "Honoria" that rose and fell. She ended the article with a warning to society: "It is a stern fact of history that no nation that rushed to the abyss ever turned back. Not ever, in the long history of the world. We are now on the edge of the abyss. Can we, for the first time in history, turn back? It is up to you."
Many of Caldwell's books also suggested that a small group of rich, powerful men secretly controlled the world.
Images for kids
-
Taylor Caldwell
See also
In Spanish: Taylor Caldwell para niños
