Ellen Argo
Ellen Argo Johnson, born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 1933, was a writer whose life was shaped by her father's military career, leading her family to travel extensively and live near the ocean. This early exposure fostered her lifelong passion for the sea. She attended Dumbarton College and later George Washington University, while working in various office roles, including as a director in a state legislative office. Argo married Mendal W. Johnson, sharing his love for sailing and the sea, and they eventually settled in Annapolis, Maryland.
After her husband's death in 1976, Argo began publishing her work, gaining recognition for her Cape Cod Trilogy, released between 1977 and 1981. This series, consisting of "Jewel of the Seas," "The Crystal Star," and "The Yankee Girl," follows the life of Julia Howard, a woman deeply connected to maritime heritage and challenges during a transformative era in American history. Although primarily classified as romance, the trilogy explores themes of resilience and leadership in the face of change. Argo's literary output was limited, as she passed away from cancer in 1983, but her trilogy remains her lasting legacy in literature.
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Ellen Argo
Writer
- Born: July 25, 1933
- Birthplace: Fort Monroe, Virginia
- Died: June 17, 1983
- Place of death: Annapolis, Maryland
Biography
Ellen Argo Johnson was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, in 1933. Her father, Reamer Walker Argo, was an officer in the U.S. Army. She was named for her mother, Ellen Tierney Argo. Because of her father’s profession, the family traveled widely and lived all over the world. Usually they lived near the ocean, and Ellen developed an enduring passion for the sea that lasted throughout her life.
She attended Dumbarton College before moving to George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Subsequently she worked in a variety of office jobs, including a post as director of a state legislative office. She also worked as a secretary, office manager, accountant, and comptroller, and in other administrative positions. She always considered herself a writer, however, as did the man she married, Mendal W. Johnson. They had in common a shared love for sailing and the sea. Although they continued Argo’s family tradition of world travel, the couple settled in Annapolis, Maryland. Argo was to live there for the rest of her life.
It was not until after Mendal Johnson’s death in 1976 that Argo published any of her own works. Her reputation is based on a series of three books published between 1977 add 1981, known collectively as the Cape Cod Trilogy and issued under her birth name Ellen Argo. Together they tell the story of Julia Howard, whose whole life is bound up with the sea. The daughter of a shipyard owner, she grows up amidst the lore and excitement of the sleek clippers and schooners that carry New England’s seaborne commerce around the world. She herself designs some excellent ships built by the yard and navigates and secretly commands a ship’s long return voyage from China while her husband, the captain, lies gravely injured. Beset by family problems, she finds more peace at sea than in the midst of quarrels and tragedies occurring on land. But when her father dies, she inherits the shipyard and has to manage to keep it profitable at a time when steam power is supplanting sail, and the coming Civil War looms on the horizon. The three books of the trilogy, Jewel of the Seas, The Crystal Star, and The Yankee Girl, make up a saga of the sea. The books have been classified as romance mostly because the protagonist is a woman.
Argo went on to start a historical novel of the Pacific. Unfortunately it was never finished or published. She died of cancer in June, 1983, before producing a large body of work by which to be remembered. The Cape Cod trilogy is her only literary legacy, but a worthy one.