Pamela Lyndon Travers OBE (9
August, 1899 – 23 April, 1996) was the creator of the famous fictional nanny known as Mary Poppins, from the book of the same name.
She was born Helen Lyndon Goff in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia, to bank manager Travers Robert Goff and Margaret
Agnes (née Morehead). Her father died when she was seven, and, although "epileptic seizure
delirium" was given as the cause of death, Travers herself "always believed the underlying cause was sustained, heavy
drinking".[1]
Travers began to have her poems published while still a teenager and wrote for The
Bulletin and Triad while also gaining a reputation as an actress. She toured Australia and New Zealand with a Shakespearean touring company before leaving
for England in 1924. There she dedicated herself to writing under
the pen name P. L. Travers (the two first initials were used to disguise a woman's name, a
practice also adopted by other female writers, such as J. K. Rowling).
In 1925 while in Ireland, Travers met the poet George William Russell (AE) who, as editor of The Irish Statesman, accepted some of her
poems for publication. Through Russell, Travers met William Butler Yeats and other
Irish poets who fostered her interest in and knowledge of world mythology. Later,
the mystic Gurdjieff would have a great effect on her, as would also have on several
other literary figures.
The 1934 publication of Mary Poppins was Travers' first literary success.[2] A number of sequels would follow, as well as a collection of novels, poetry collections and
non-fiction works. A Disney musical film
version of the Mary Poppins stories was released in 1964. Though the character of
Mary Poppins in the film would differ from Travers' original conception, she made sure to impose certain changes on, and insist
that she must approve the screenplay of the adaptation.
Travers was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1977. She died in London in
1996.
Although Travers never married, she adopted a boy when she was in her late 30s.[3]
Books by P. L. Travers
Mary Poppins series
- Mary Poppins (1934)
- Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935)
- Mary Poppins in the Park (1935)
- Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943)
- Gingerbread Shop (1952)
- Mr. Wigg's Birthday Party (1952)
- The Magic Compass (1953)
- Mary Poppins From A-Z (1962)
- Mary Poppins in the Kitchen (1975)
- Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane (1982)
- Mary Poppins and the House Next Door (1988)
Novels
- I Go By Sea, I Go By Land (1941)
- Fox at the Manger (1962)
- Friend Monkey (1971)
- Two Pairs of Shoes (1980)
Collections
- Stories from Mary Poppins (1952)
- Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane / Mary Poppins and the House Next Door (1999)
- Mary Poppins Omnibooks (1999)
Non-fiction
- About the Sleeping Beauty (1975)
- What the Bee Knows: Reflections on Myth, Symbol and Story (1989)
References
- ^ Lawson, V., 1999, Out of the sky she came: The life of P. L. Travers,
creator of Mary Poppins, published in association with Belladonna Books. ISBN 0-7336-1072-2
- ^ Maryborough City Council page on Mary Poppins
- ^ ABC Radio National interview with Valerie Lawson, Travers biographer, in 2003
Books on P. L. Travers
- Out of the Sky She Came: The Life of P.L. Travers, Creator of Mary Poppins Valerie Lawson 1999 ISBN 0-7336-1072-2
- A Lively Oracle: a Centennial Celebration of P. L. Travers, Creator of Mary Poppins. Ellen Dooling Draper and Jenny
Koralek, editors. (New York: Larson Publications, 1999).
- Mary Poppins She Wrote. Lawson,V., Aurum Press, 2005. ISBN 1-84513-126-6
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
- Gurdjieff by P.L. Travers,
from Man, Myth and Magic: Encyclopedia of the Supernatural 12 vol., (London: Purnell, 1970-1971) reprinted on the International Gurdjieff Review web site.
- Finding aid to
Papers of P. L. Travers in State Library of New South Wales (pdf file).
- Becoming Mary
Poppins: P. L. Travers, Walt Disney, and the making of a myth. (Caitlin Flanagan, The New Yorker, 12 December
2005)
- Secret Life of a Letter
to the Editor, (Valerie Lawson, Columbia Journalism Review, February, 2006)
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