Happy Birthday, Marjorie K. Rawlings~~

In honor of Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's August 8th birthday, 

I'm reposting.  

First, check out this  brand new link to 

Anita Silvey's  Book-a-Day-Almanac 

& 

fellow writer Augusta Scattergood's 

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. 

click ☛CROSS CREEK to get you there☝☝   

“Just get it down on paper, and then we’ll see what to do with it.”

  

Maxwell Perkins