In honor of Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's August 8th birthday,
I'm reposting.
First, check out this brand new link to
&
who brought this to my attention
& almost shares the birthday!
☟☟☟☟☟
Where were we?
Right. Charles Scribner's Sons Editor Maxwell Perkins,
the stuff of legend.
During the banner years he wrested fiction out of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wolfe and other men-with-typewriters, Perkins was rejecting (Gothic romance) manuscripts from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, a fledgling writer in Cross Creek, Florida, wresting produce out of a struggling citrus grove to support her dreams.
Manuscripts (hers) & rejection letters (his) were accompanied by correspondence. Perkins remarked that her Yankee-transplant observations of colorful, impoverished neighbors created more interest than her novels & encouraged her to write what she knew~~the life she lived and the lives she observed.
The rest is history.
The #1 selling novel of 1938
The 1939 Pulitzer Prize
- Despite being brand new, Scribner's launched The Yearling as one of their Illustrated Classics (☚click) & again commissioned N.C. Wyeth who traveled to Cross Creek to soak up the atmosphere.
- The 1946 MGM film adaption features interior scenes based on Wyeth's illustrations.
- Four Academy Award nominations include Best Actor for Gregory Peck's portrayal of the father, Ezra "Penny" Baxter.
- In 1942 Scribner's published Rawlings' autobiographical Cross Creek.
- The film version of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' journey, also called Cross Creek, premiered in 1983.
- Four Academy Award nominations include Best Supporting Actor winner Rip Torn for his portrayal of Marsh Turner, the real life inspiration for Penny Baxter.
- In 2007 Rawlings' Cracker style house & grounds were declared a National Historic Landmark.
I've visited twice.
Maxwell Perkins, N.C. Wyeth & Gregory Peck were among her house guests.
I stood in the guest room & imagined I'd been one.
I glimpsed my first orange trees on my journey to Cross Creek.
I'm guessing it might have been the same for Ms. Rawlings.
✍ ✍ ✍
Majorie Kinnan Rawlings had stories to tell.
Maxwell Perkins helped her discover which ones.
Yup, the stuff of legend.
“Just get it down on paper, and then we’ll see what to do with it.”