417:(1950), recounting her life in the Depression trying to find work, in the years after she left her husband and moved back in with her mother and sister; this book is notable as âan explicit appreciation of a western placeâ (Seattle in the 1930s.) Betty, who canât type or do shorthand, âhires out as a secretary and a stenographerâŠand hunts in the poverty-stricken thirties for other jobs, some of which she applies and some of which she tries: Tinting photos, clerking for florist, dentist, gangster, credit bureau, and a dime-card chain scheme.â
407:: âBetty MacDonaldâŠapparently can extract more amusement out of a nasty experience than most people can corral out from a trip to the circusâŠthe artistry of her style, the infectious gaiety of her perspective, and the sensitive understanding she extends to any person she comes in contact withâŠassures a good deal of pleasure and vital knowledge even though as a subject the plagueâs the thing.â In 1984 a different
264:. Her official birth date is given as March 26, 1908, although federal census returns seem to indicate 1907. Her parents were Harvard-educated mining engineer Darsie Bard and his wife Elsie Sanderson, called Sydney. Betty had three sisters: Mary Bard, Dorothea Bard, and Alison Bard; and one brother, Sydney Cleveland Bard. In adulthood, MacDonald's sister
310:. She left Heskett in 1931 and filed for divorce. Upon returning to Seattle, she worked at a variety of jobs to support their daughters Anne and Joan. After the divorce the ex-spouses had virtually no contact. Heskett died in 1951 after being âstabbed in a fight.â She spent nine months at
38:
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with her second husband and teenage daughters during the war years. The farm, which has a âbreathtaking view of Puget Sound, lush fruit trees and bald eagles nesting just outside the windows,â is now a bed and breakfast with a small museum dedicated to
871:
352:. Her husband (simply called "Bob" in the book) was called "Bob MacDonald" in the film, as studio executives were keen not to raise the matter of MacDonald's divorce in the public consciousness. He was played by
1013:
Crowther, Florence, âBetty MacDonald's Witty
Therapy; THE PLAGUE AND I. By Betty MacDonald. 245 pp. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. $ 9.75.â The New York Times, October 17, 1948, Section BR, Page
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1065:
Hurley, Anne. "WASHINGTON; Home is Where Her Heart was; the Farm Where 'Onions in the Stew' Author Betty MacDonald Lived and Wrote Still Exudes a Sense of Simple
Abundance."
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MacDonald attended the
University of Washington for one year before she married Robert Eugene Heskett (1895â1951) at age 20 in July 1927; they lived on a chicken farm in the
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broadcast a tribute program, commemorating the 100th anniversary of McDonald's birth. In 2009, BBC Radio 4 also broadcast a reading of MacDonald's book,
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268:(Jensen) was also a published author. (Another sister, Sylvia, died in infancy.) Betty Bard spent her childhood in Mexico, Montana, and Idaho.
232:; March 26, 1907 â February 7, 1958) was an American author who specialized in humorous autobiographical tales, and is best known for her book
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books are still in print from Harper & Row; her other three memoir books have been republished multiple times, most recently by
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Dan
Webster, ââNANCY & PLUMâ IN PRINT AGAIN AFTER YEARS OFF SHELVES TALE BY LATE BETTY MACDONALD REPUBLISHED BY HER DAUGHTER"
983:"'EGG AND I' BOUGHT FOR COLBERT FILM; International Pays $ 100,000 Down to Betty MacDonald --Three Openings Today Of Local Origin"
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Rogers, W.G., âBook
Emphasizes Idea That You Can Have More Fun When Poor,â Denton Record Chronicle, September 3, 1950, page 14.
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AP Staff Writer, âAuthor Betty MacDonald Is Dead; Cancer,â Cedar Rapids
Gazette Newspaper Archives, February 8, 1958, page 1.
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MacDonald, Betty Bard. Who, Me? The
Autobiography of Betty Macdonald. (1. Publ.). United Kingdom: Hammond, Hammond, 1960.
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391:(1948), describing her nine-month stay at the Firlands tuberculosis sanitarium; the character of Kimi is the writer
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331:, was published in 1945. It first appeared as a serialized abridgement in the June through August, 1945, issues of
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non-fiction bestseller list for 43 weeks
International Pictures bought the movie rights for $ 100,000 in 1946.
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480:, based on stories and characters created by her mother. The book is attributed to both mother and daughter.
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Paula Becker: Looking for Betty MacDonald. University of
Washington Press, Seattle and London 2016, pp. 9 f.
639:(a collection of selected chapters from her four adult books, credited posthumously as Betty Bard MacDonald)
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All the Bard siblings are deceased. MacDonald's younger daughter, Joan MacDonald Keil, died in July 2005.
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In
September 2016, Annie Parnell, MacDonald's great-granddaughter, published a follow-up to the series,
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910:"It's About Time Somebody Out Here Wrote the Truth: Betty Bard MacDonald and North/Western Regionalism"
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was reprinted by MacDonaldâs daughter Joan and son-in-law in 1998. A new edition with illustrations by
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Much laughter, a few tears : memoirs of a woman's friendship with Betty MacDonald and her family
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MacDonald has been described as âone of the most accomplished and popular humorists of the era.â
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In the 1930 census Robert and Elizabeth Heskett are noted as having been married for three years
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in 1956. MacDonald returned to Seattle in September 1957 for cancer treatment and died there of
444:, which was described upon publication as being âsteeped in the essence of old fairy tales.â
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591:(a final Piggle-Wiggle collection finished by her daughter Anne and published posthumously)
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367:. The characters become so popular a series of nine more films were made featuring them.
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Looking for Betty MacDonald : the egg, the plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I
1340:"Betty MacDonald Had a Farm' BBC Radio 4 100th anniversary tribute of her birth
1242:"Q&A: Ann M. Martin and Annie Parnell from the 'Missy Piggle-Wiggle' Series"
1153:"Humor and Gender Roles: The "Funny" Feminism of the Post-World War II Suburbs"
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318:. On April 24, 1942 she married Donald C. MacDonald (1910â1975) and moved to
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555:(first edition illustrated by Richard Bennett, subsequent editions by
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is published on October 3, 1945," HistoryLink.org, August 14, 2007.
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1114:"MacDonald's centennial reminds Vashon of her place on the Island"
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MacDonald also published three other semi-autobiographical books:
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on April 24, 1930, shows that Elizabeth Heskett was 23 years old.
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on January 15, 1920, shows that Elizabeth Bard was 12 years old.
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In 2007, MacDonald's daughter, Anne MacDonald Canham, published
872:"The plucky author behind the classic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books"
399:. Plague was said to be MacDonaldâs favorite of her own books.
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on May 2 and 3, shows that Elizabeth Bard was three years old.
425:(1955), about her life in a log cabin by the ferry landing on
337:. The book, published on October 3, 1945, was number one on
794:"'Looking for Betty MacDonald' finds comedy and tragedy"
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series of children's books and another children's book,
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series of children's books. She is associated with the
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neighborhood a year later and finally settling in the
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458:A posthumous collection of her writings, entitled
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1334:Brief biography of Betty MacDonald with pictures
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1425:Deaths from uterine cancer in the United States
835:UW Magazine â University of Washington Magazine
528:First have a big mortgage, then lots of coffee.
287:neighborhood in 1922, where she graduated from
460:Who, Me?: The Autobiography of Betty MacDonald
981:TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (1946-04-19).
896:
637:Who, Me? The Autobiography of Betty MacDonald
533:Betty MacDonaldâs advice to aspiring writers
325:MacDonald rose to fame when her first book,
1336:, historylink.org; accessed August 28, 2014
314:near Seattle in 1937â1938 for treatment of
1325:February 2002 article on MacDonald in the
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693:: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
411:writer called it âundeservedly forgotten.â
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1395:20th-century American non-fiction writers
1084:"Literature's Plums in the Christmas Pie"
496:Missy Piggle-Wiggle and the Whatever Cure
1400:Deaths from cancer in Washington (state)
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348:, made in 1947, MacDonald was played by
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271:Her family moved to the north slope of
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649:Margaret A. Bartlett, "On Our Cover,"
356:. The books introduced the characters
322:, where she wrote most of her books.
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1360:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
1352:, with 32 library catalog records
1342:, bbc.co.uk; accessed August 28, 2014
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447:The MacDonalds moved to California's
1240:Conradt, Stacy (September 9, 2016).
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279:neighborhood in 1918, moving to the
21:Elizabeth MacDonald (disambiguation)
1390:20th-century American women writers
1277:University of Washington Press Blog
829:Brown, Quinn Russell (2016-12-16).
524:has since been issued by Yearling.
502:, with illustrations by Ben Hatke.
19:For persons of a similar name, see
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589:Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
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478:Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
42:Betty Bard at Roosevelt High, 1923
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792:Upchurch, Michael (2016-09-04).
360:, who also were featured in the
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1271:Eykemans, Thomas (2016-09-07).
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778:U. S. census of 1930, taken in
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1410:Writers from Boulder, Colorado
1405:People from Vashon, Washington
870:Reese, Jennifer (2016-10-17).
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765:U.S. census of 1920, taken in
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584:(illustrated by Hilary Knight)
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514:University of Washington Press
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1151:Walker, Nancy (1985-03-01) .
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230:Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard
51:Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard
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914:Western American Literature
652:The Author & Journalist
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1330:; accessed August 28, 2014
1082:Jacobs, Leland B. (1956).
702:Caffiere, Blanche (2011).
564:Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic
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1385:American women memoirists
1026:"CUTTING THROUGH MY SOUL"
708:. : Trafford Publishing.
582:Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
571:Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm
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617:Anybody Can Do Anything
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415:Anybody Can Do Anything
1299:, Mar 08, 1998, pp. E5
659:Becker, Paula (2016).
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462:, was later released.
455:on February 7, 1958.
260:MacDonald was born in
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370:Further information:
289:Roosevelt High School
238:. She also wrote the
147:Robert Eugene Heskett
105:Children's literature
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1346:Betty Bard MacDonald
908:Kraig, Beth (2005).
498:in conjunction with
376:The Egg and I (film)
1350:Library of Congress
483:On March 13, 2008,
434:She also wrote the
178:Donald C. MacDonald
1157:American Quarterly
1120:. March 28, 2008.
1088:Elementary English
1030:The New York Times
987:The New York Times
780:Center, Washington
754:Placerville, Idaho
630:Onions in the Stew
553:Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
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339:The New York Times
312:Firland Sanatorium
241:Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
126:Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle
84:, Washington, U.S.
1216:"Book at Bedtime"
1067:Los Angeles Times
798:The Seattle Times
715:978-1-4269-6608-8
672:978-0-295-99937-1
403:reviewer said of
362:movie version of
350:Claudette Colbert
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