Josephine Lawrence
Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978) was an American novelist and journalist. Her works chronicled the lives of common people, with stories often filled with a large cast of bustling characters, emphasizing the everyday lives of children and the elderly.
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Josephine Lawrence (1889–1978) was an American novelist and journalist. Her works chronicled the lives of common people, with stories often filled with a large cast of bustling characters, emphasizing the everyday lives of children and the elderly.Lawrence was among the many authors who ghost wrote series books for the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate of children's books. She had interviewed Edward Stratemeyer in 1917, and he later invited her to write for his organization. She wrote 51 such volumes between 1920 and 1935, for series including Betty Gordon, Honey Bunch and the Riddle Club.[2][3] After writing successfully for the Syndicate, she began writing her own series and stand-alone stories for children, including a radio series for children, ‘‘Man in the Moon,’’ which began broadcasting in October of 1921, and was the first book of stories read to children over the radio.
1922 Man in the Moon bedtime story poster
She later wrote novels for adults, including Glenna (1929), Head of the Family (1932), Years Are So Long (1934) — which was made into a movie Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) — If I Have Four Apples (1935), Sound of Running Feet (1937) and Bow Down to Wood and Stone (1938). Her novels covered the troubles of middle class people during the depression and were both critically praised and sold well at the time they came out, but have been less well known by 21st century readers.[8] The New York Times noted that her novels detailed "money troubles and those family problems and relationships that in the 30's were most deeply felt." Two of her novels were Book-of-the-Month-Club selections: Years Are So Long and If I Have Four Apples. Her last published novel, Under One Roof, came out in 1975.[9][10]
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