Carol Kendall
Carol Kendall, born Carol Seeger on September 13, 1917, in Bucyrus, Ohio, was an influential American author primarily known for her contributions to children's literature and fantasy. The youngest of eight siblings, she discovered her passion for writing at a young age, despite facing discouragement from a teacher in her fourth grade. After her father's death and the onset of the Great Depression, her family struggled financially, but Kendall's determination led her to Ohio University, where she graduated in 1939 and married fellow writer Paul Murray Kendall.
Kendall's early literary endeavors included adult mystery novels, but she ultimately focused on children's literature, achieving significant acclaim with her notable work, "The Gammage Cup." This book, recognized for its exploration of themes like conformity and individuality within a fictional society, became a critical and popular success, earning a Newbery Honor. Throughout her career, she published several other works, including "The Firelings," which garnered awards for juvenile fiction. After the death of her husband in 1973, Kendall traveled extensively and continued to write, even delving into collections of Chinese and Japanese folktales. She eventually transitioned to a retirement community in her later years, leaving behind a legacy of richly crafted stories celebrated for their character depth and imaginative settings.
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Carol Kendall
Writer
- Born: September 13, 1917
- Birthplace: Bucyrus, Ohio
- Died: July 28, 2012
Biography
Carol Kendall was born Carol Seeger on September 13, 1917, in Bucyrus, Ohio. Her father, John Adam Seeger, was a cabinet maker, and her mother, Laura Price Seeger, was a homemaker. The youngest of eight children, Kendall from an early age liked to spend time alone, climbing trees, roaming the neighborhood, and reading books that her older brothers had left behind. By fourth grade she knew that she wanted to become a writer, and one of her most vivid and painful memories as an adult was of her fourth-grade teacher belittling her for the first long story she wrote. When she was about eight, her father died and the family began to slip into poverty, a condition made much worse a few years later when the Great Depression began.
In 1935, with a scholarship and a job with the National Youth Administration, she was able to enter Ohio University. There she met Paul Murray Kendall, a graduate student and writer who hired her to type his doctoral dissertation. In 1939, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University and married Kendall, changing her name to Carol Kendall. The couple settled into a happy life of writing and traveling. They lived in Athens, Ohio, where Paul Kendall taught at the university, and the couple spent every third or fourth year in England, where Paul conducted research. They had two daughters, Carol and Gillian.
Kendall tried to establish herself as a writer but received many rejections. Her first book contract, for a children’s picture book, was canceled because of paper shortages during World War II. In 1946, she published an adult mystery novel, The Black Seven, followed by another mystery before she decided to concentrate on writing for children.
In 1957, she published her first juvenile book, The Other Side of the Tunnel. Her next book, The Gammage Cup, was her most important. It tells the story of a people known as the Minnipins and their struggle to deal with nonconformity in a traditional society. The book was a critical and popular success. Over the next decade, the Kendalls moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where Paul taught at the University of Kansas and Kendall published two more books. Paul Kendall died in 1973.
After her children married and left home, Kendall began traveling more frequently and to more exotic places, including Easter Island and Tibet. She learned Chinese and collaborated with Yao-wen Li on Sweet and Sour: Tales from China, a collection of Chinese folktales. She later published another Chinese story and a collection of Japanese folktales. In 1981, she published The Firelings, another tale set in a fictional world, this time an ancient but awakening volcano.
In her late eighties, Kendall stopped writing and moved to a retirement community. Kendall’s fantasy work is recognized for the believability of its characters and settings. The Gammage Cup,a Newbery Honor Book, was reissued in 2000. The Firelings won a Parents’ Choice Award for juvenile fiction and the Mythopoeic Society Award for Adult Literature.