Catherine Crook de Camp
Catherine Crook de Camp, born on November 6, 1907, in New York City, was an accomplished writer and business manager, particularly known for her collaboration with her husband, L. Sprague de Camp, a prominent author in science fiction and fantasy. Graduating magna cum laude from Barnard College in 1933, she began her career in education before dedicating much of her early married life to managing her husband's prolific literary career. Throughout their 60-year marriage, Catherine transitioned into a co-authoring role, contributing to numerous nonfiction works and literary projects alongside her husband, including titles such as "The Day of the Dinosaur" and "Dark Valley Destiny: The Life of Robert E. Howard."
In addition to her collaborative works, she authored financial guides aimed at young readers, reflecting her business expertise. Catherine was recognized for her contributions to literature for young people with the Eighth Drexel Citation in 1978. In 1989, to be closer to family, the couple moved to Plano, Texas, where they lived until their deaths in 2000, shortly apart from one another. Their ashes are interred at Arlington National Cemetery, honoring their legacies and contributions to literature.
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Catherine Crook de Camp
Writer
- Born: November 6, 1907
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: April 9, 2000
- Place of death: Plano, Texas
Biography
Catherine Crook de Camp was born as Catherine Crook on November 6, 1907, in New York, New York. She was one of four children born to Mary E. (Beekman) and lawyer Samuel Crook. Catherine attended Barnard College in New York, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1933, majoring in English and economics. After graduation, she taught and tutored at secondary schools in Ohio and New York, while pursuing graduate studies (1934-1938) at Western Reserve (now Case Western Reserve) University, Columbia University, and Temple University. Her sister introduced Catherine to her future husband, L. (Lyon) Sprague de Camp (November 27, 1907-November 6, 2000). They married August 12, 1939. She bore two sons, Lyman Sprague, and Gerard Beekman de Camp.
For the first twenty-five years of their marriage, though she wrote scripts on science for the Voice of America (1949-1950) and contributed articles to TIME, South, and Starlog, de Camp had a different primary purpose than writing. She acted as business manager for her prolific husband who, early in the 1940’s began to gain a name for himself publishing novels and short stories in the science-fiction, fantasy, and historical genres and who, in collaboration with authors Lin Carter, Robert E. Howard, and others would produce a long series of Conan the Barbarian novels. She marketed her husband’s works, managed income, handled taxes, invested profits, handed publicity and answered fan mail.
During the early 1960’s, she began to take a larger role in the working relationship. During the decade, she collaborated with her husband on several nonfiction works, including Ancient Ruins and Archaeology (1964, reprinted as Citadels of Mystery, 1973), Spirits, Stars, and Spells (1966), and a book intended for juvenile readers, The Story of Science in America (1967).
It must have been an amicable arrangement, for the couple often worked together throughout the remainder of their union. Catherine and L. Sprague coauthored or coedited more than a dozen works, including The Day of the Dinosaur (1968), Tales Beyond Time: From Fantasy to Science Fiction (1973, coeditors), Footprints on Sand: A Literary Sampler (1981), the novelization of the film (along with Lin Carter) Conan the Barbarian (1982), Dark Valley Destiny: The Life of Robert E. Howard (1983), The Bones of Zora (1983), and The Incorporated Knight (1986).
Catherine, taking advantage of the business acumen gained through managing her husband’s affairs, also published The Money Tree: A Guide to Successful Finance (1972) and Teach Your Child to Manage Money: A Guide for Tots Through Teens (1975), and edited Creatures of the Cosmos (1977). In 1978, she was honored with the Eighth Drexel Citation for Distinguished Contributions to Literature to Young People.
To be near their children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren, in 1989, the senior de Camps decamped from Villanova, Pennsylvania, to Plano, Texas, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Catherine Crook de Camp died April 9, 2000. Her husband and workmate of sixty years appropriately followed her in death later that year. Because L. Sprague de Camp was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II, his ashes and Catherine’s were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.