Author. She is best remembered for her two collections of stories, "A Humble Romance and Other Stories" (1887) and "A New England Nun and Other Stories" (1891). Her books dealt mostly with life in New England and are among the best of their kind. Born Mary Eleanor Wilkins, the 2nd child to orthodox Congregationalists, she had a very strict childhood. When she was a young girl, her family moved to Brattleboro, Vermont and she attended the West Brattleboro Seminary in West Brattleboro, Vermont. Her father worked as a carpenter and house builder before the post-American Civil War depression affected his ability to provide for his family. As a teenager, she began writing stories and verse for children to help support her family and was quickly successful. In 1870 she attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary but left a year later. While working as secretary to the author and physician, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., she began writing poetry and novels with a strong New England regional flavor. During her lifetime, she produced almost 40 short stories and novels, including "Young Lucretia and Other Stories' (1892), "The Pot of Gold and Other Stories" (1892), "Pembroke" (1894), "The Heart's Highway: A Romance of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century" (1900), and "The Green Door" (1910). In April 1926 she became the first recipient of the William Dean Howells Medal for Distinction in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her last book was "The Best Stories of Mary E. Wilkins" (1927). She died of heart failure at the age of 77. In 1974 Arkam House Publishers released her "Collected Ghost Stories," the first collection of all of her supernatural stories.
Author. She is best remembered for her two collections of stories, "A Humble Romance and Other Stories" (1887) and "A New England Nun and Other Stories" (1891). Her books dealt mostly with life in New England and are among the best of their kind. Born Mary Eleanor Wilkins, the 2nd child to orthodox Congregationalists, she had a very strict childhood. When she was a young girl, her family moved to Brattleboro, Vermont and she attended the West Brattleboro Seminary in West Brattleboro, Vermont. Her father worked as a carpenter and house builder before the post-American Civil War depression affected his ability to provide for his family. As a teenager, she began writing stories and verse for children to help support her family and was quickly successful. In 1870 she attended the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary but left a year later. While working as secretary to the author and physician, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., she began writing poetry and novels with a strong New England regional flavor. During her lifetime, she produced almost 40 short stories and novels, including "Young Lucretia and Other Stories' (1892), "The Pot of Gold and Other Stories" (1892), "Pembroke" (1894), "The Heart's Highway: A Romance of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century" (1900), and "The Green Door" (1910). In April 1926 she became the first recipient of the William Dean Howells Medal for Distinction in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her last book was "The Best Stories of Mary E. Wilkins" (1927). She died of heart failure at the age of 77. In 1974 Arkam House Publishers released her "Collected Ghost Stories," the first collection of all of her supernatural stories.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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