“A
writer is, after all, only half his book. The other half is the reader and from
the reader the writer learns.” – P. L. Travers
Australian-born (on this date in
1899) British novelist, actress, and journalist Travers emigrated to England
and lived most of her adult life there, although she spent a number of years in
America, living on several Southwest U.S. Indian Reservations and writing journalistically
about the experience. Best
known for her Mary Poppins’ series of children's books, she also was a noted
actress during the 1920s. It was while
acting that she changed her name to P.L. Travers, her birth name being Lyndon
Goff.
Her first writing came as a poet during her
teenage years and she was fairly successful. She let that go after
getting into acting, but writing
continued to be a draw, and after touring the world with a Shakespeare
Theater company, she found her true calling writing children’s books.
“My family didn't like me going on the stage,” she said, “but they
didn't much like my being a writer, either.” By the time she had finished her long career, Travers was honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. She died in 1996.
Travers approached her writing with
a questioning mind and never thought that what she had to say might be
considered “answers” to any sort of writing puzzle. Perhaps every writer should think along those
lines, especially when people want them to provide that magic elixir
for putting words on paper. “For me, there are no answers, only
questions,
and I am grateful that the questions go on and on,” Travers
said. “I don't look for an answer
because I don't think there is one. So, I'm very glad to be the bearer of a
question.”
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