Gladys Hasty Carroll
Encyclopedia
Gladys Hasty Carroll was an American
novelist who was a published author from the late 1920s into the 1980s. In her fiction and non-fiction, Carroll wrote about what she knew and people that she loved: specifically, the Southern Maine rural community known as Dunnybrook in South Berwick, Maine
. Carroll believed that the history that mattered most was the history of common folk and her literature presented their stories and stories of those like them.
Carroll was born June 26, 1904, in Rochester, New Hampshire
, and was raised in South Berwick, Maine. She grew up on the family farm of her parents Warren Verd Hasty and Emma Frances Dow, living with her brother Harold, her grandfather George Bradford Hasty and paternal aunt Vinnie.
As a child she was taught in a one room school house. To keep her occupied, her teachers told her to write on any topic she wished once she finished her school work. She attended and graduated from Berwick Academy
and then attended Bates College
, being the first person in her family to pursue higher education. Her Bates friends nicknamed her "Sunny" because of her optimistic personality. She graduated in 1925, and was married the next day in the Bates College chapel to Herbert Allen Carroll. Their marriage lasted 58 years, until Dr Carroll's death in April 1983. Herbert's career and pursuits of various degrees took the couple all over America including Massachusetts, Chicago, Minneapolis and Manhattan.
This period marked Carroll's emergence into international prominence as an author. She worked almost tireless, writing short stories, regular advice columns and her novels Cockatoo (1929) and Landspell (1930). In 1932 she gave birth to her first son, Warren Carroll. In 1933, she wrote her Pulitzer Prize
nominated work or fiction, As the Earth Turns. As the Earth Turns, was a blockbuster success and the number two selling novel of 1933 according to Publishers Weekly
, second only to Hervey Allen
's Anthony Adverse
and outselling such well-remembered books as Lloyd C. Douglas
's Magnificent Obsession
and Sinclair Lewis
's Ann Vickers
. A Warner Bros.
film version of the novel starring Jean Muir
and Donald Woods
was a flop, however, and none of Carroll's other novels were ever filmed. The only other film adaption of any of her work was her story "Kristi" which was made into an episode of Jane Wyman
's 1950s anthology television series Fireside Theatre.
The money from the book, along with her husband's job at the University of New Hampshire
, allowed her to return to her hometown and build a home on the land of her family in South Berwick. She continued to publish novels, but also worked to write the folkplay adaptation of As the Earth Turns. She helped produce the play each summer, using her neighbors in the Dunnybrook community and performing in an open field. In 1941 she had her second and last child, a daughter they named Sarah. Towards the end of this interval, she wrote what some consider to be her greatest work, Dunnybrook, published in 1943.
World War II
brought the end of the folkplay, with the last performance being in 1942. After the war Carroll continued to write, publishing a book every two years in the 1940's and 1950's and seven books in the 1960's. She was elected onto the Board of Trustees of Bates College and traveled extensively for their Alumni Association. She eventually moved into the Hasty farmhouse and lived a simple life there. In the 1970's she published the novels Next of Kin and Unless you Die Young and the autobiographical Years Away from Home.
In 1985, Carroll inspired the creation of the Dunnybrook Historical Foundation Inc, and was a founding trustee. During the summer she allowed visitors to come to her Maine home to visit, go on guided tours of Dunnybrook, and get books signed. Family and community members also displayed art, made music and performed historical skits. In the mid-1990s the Old Berwick Historical Society helped produce a professional audio recording of her book Dunnybrook. As Carroll was in her nineties at this point, it took supreme efforts on her part and could be considered the culminating event of a long career.
Gladys Hasty Carroll died peacefully at age 94 on April 1, 1999, in a hospital in York, Maine.
The Dunnybrook Historical Foundation still exists today as a registered non-profit group. The foundation is dedicated to preserving and sharing an extensive collection of material related to the history of Dunnybrook as well as the life and works of Gladys Hasty Carroll. This collection includes many photographs, diaries, letters and official records of those families who lived in Dunnybrook. The foundation is made up entirely of direct descendants of Carroll, down to her living great-grandchildren. It continues to work today to preserve the stories of the people that Gladys Hasty Carroll thought most important.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist who was a published author from the late 1920s into the 1980s. In her fiction and non-fiction, Carroll wrote about what she knew and people that she loved: specifically, the Southern Maine rural community known as Dunnybrook in South Berwick, Maine
South Berwick, Maine
South Berwick is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,220 at the 2010 census. South Berwick is home to Berwick Academy, a private, co-educational university-preparatory day school founded in 1791...
. Carroll believed that the history that mattered most was the history of common folk and her literature presented their stories and stories of those like them.
Carroll was born June 26, 1904, in Rochester, New Hampshire
Rochester, New Hampshire
Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 29,752. The city includes the villages of East Rochester and Gonic. Rochester is home to Skyhaven Airport and the annual Rochester Fair....
, and was raised in South Berwick, Maine. She grew up on the family farm of her parents Warren Verd Hasty and Emma Frances Dow, living with her brother Harold, her grandfather George Bradford Hasty and paternal aunt Vinnie.
As a child she was taught in a one room school house. To keep her occupied, her teachers told her to write on any topic she wished once she finished her school work. She attended and graduated from Berwick Academy
Berwick Academy
Berwick Academy is a highly selective preparatory school located in South Berwick, Maine. Founded in 1791, it is the oldest educational institution in Maine and one of the oldest private schools in North America. The school sits on a 72-acre, 11-building campus on a hill overlooking the Salmon...
and then attended Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
, being the first person in her family to pursue higher education. Her Bates friends nicknamed her "Sunny" because of her optimistic personality. She graduated in 1925, and was married the next day in the Bates College chapel to Herbert Allen Carroll. Their marriage lasted 58 years, until Dr Carroll's death in April 1983. Herbert's career and pursuits of various degrees took the couple all over America including Massachusetts, Chicago, Minneapolis and Manhattan.
This period marked Carroll's emergence into international prominence as an author. She worked almost tireless, writing short stories, regular advice columns and her novels Cockatoo (1929) and Landspell (1930). In 1932 she gave birth to her first son, Warren Carroll. In 1933, she wrote her Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
nominated work or fiction, As the Earth Turns. As the Earth Turns, was a blockbuster success and the number two selling novel of 1933 according to Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
, second only to Hervey Allen
Hervey Allen
William Hervey Allen was an American author.-Biography:He graduated from University of Pittsburgh in 1915, where he also became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity....
's Anthony Adverse
Anthony Adverse
Anthony Adverse is a 1936 American drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Sheridan Gibney is based on the sprawling 1,224-page novel of the same title by Hervey Allen.-Plot:...
and outselling such well-remembered books as Lloyd C. Douglas
Lloyd C. Douglas
Lloyd Cassel Douglas born Doya C. Douglas, was an American minister and author.He was born in Columbia City, Indiana, spent part of his boyhood in Monroeville, Indiana, Wilmot, Indiana and Florence, Kentucky, where his father, Alexander Jackson Douglas, was pastor of the Hopeful Lutheran Church...
's Magnificent Obsession
Magnificent Obsession
Magnificent Obsession is a 1929 novel by Lloyd C. Douglas. It was one of four of his books that were eventually made into blockbuster motion pictures, the other three being The Robe, White Banners and The Big Fisherman.-Plot summary:...
and Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of...
's Ann Vickers
Ann Vickers
Ann Vickers is a 1933 novel by Sinclair Lewis.It is also a 1933 drama film directed by John Cromwell, adapted by Jane Murfin from Lewis's novel, and starring Irene Dunne, Bruce Cabot, Walter Huston, and Conrad Nagel...
. A Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
film version of the novel starring Jean Muir
Jean Muir
Jean Elizabeth Muir, CBE, FCSD was an English fashion designer .-History and early career:...
and Donald Woods
Donald Woods (actor)
Donald Woods was a Canadian-born American film and television actor whose career spanned six decades....
was a flop, however, and none of Carroll's other novels were ever filmed. The only other film adaption of any of her work was her story "Kristi" which was made into an episode of Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
's 1950s anthology television series Fireside Theatre.
The money from the book, along with her husband's job at the University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire is a public university in the University System of New Hampshire , United States. The main campus is in Durham, New Hampshire. An additional campus is located in Manchester. With over 15,000 students, UNH is the largest university in New Hampshire. The university is...
, allowed her to return to her hometown and build a home on the land of her family in South Berwick. She continued to publish novels, but also worked to write the folkplay adaptation of As the Earth Turns. She helped produce the play each summer, using her neighbors in the Dunnybrook community and performing in an open field. In 1941 she had her second and last child, a daughter they named Sarah. Towards the end of this interval, she wrote what some consider to be her greatest work, Dunnybrook, published in 1943.
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
brought the end of the folkplay, with the last performance being in 1942. After the war Carroll continued to write, publishing a book every two years in the 1940's and 1950's and seven books in the 1960's. She was elected onto the Board of Trustees of Bates College and traveled extensively for their Alumni Association. She eventually moved into the Hasty farmhouse and lived a simple life there. In the 1970's she published the novels Next of Kin and Unless you Die Young and the autobiographical Years Away from Home.
In 1985, Carroll inspired the creation of the Dunnybrook Historical Foundation Inc, and was a founding trustee. During the summer she allowed visitors to come to her Maine home to visit, go on guided tours of Dunnybrook, and get books signed. Family and community members also displayed art, made music and performed historical skits. In the mid-1990s the Old Berwick Historical Society helped produce a professional audio recording of her book Dunnybrook. As Carroll was in her nineties at this point, it took supreme efforts on her part and could be considered the culminating event of a long career.
Gladys Hasty Carroll died peacefully at age 94 on April 1, 1999, in a hospital in York, Maine.
The Dunnybrook Historical Foundation still exists today as a registered non-profit group. The foundation is dedicated to preserving and sharing an extensive collection of material related to the history of Dunnybrook as well as the life and works of Gladys Hasty Carroll. This collection includes many photographs, diaries, letters and official records of those families who lived in Dunnybrook. The foundation is made up entirely of direct descendants of Carroll, down to her living great-grandchildren. It continues to work today to preserve the stories of the people that Gladys Hasty Carroll thought most important.
External links
- Gladys Hasty Carroll profile at age 91
- http://dunnybrook.org/ Homepage for the Dunnybrook Historical Foundation
- http://dunnybrook.org/homepage/Gladys_Hasty_Carroll.html Profile Page of Gladys Hasty Carroll
- http://dunnybrook.org/homepage/about_us.html History of Dunnybrook