Marjorie Braymer
Marjorie Elizabeth Braymer, born on March 21, 1911, in Chicago, Illinois, was a dedicated writer and educator whose passion for literature and archaeology shaped her career. From a young age, she was drawn to books and writing, often visiting bookstores in Chicago and meeting influential figures like poet Carl Sandburg. With the onset of the Great Depression, Braymer pivoted from her initial college education to work as a manuscript reader in New York City, where she engaged with the writing community despite the challenges of the industry. After a decade, she returned to school, earning a degree in education from Ohio State University in 1943 and a master's degree from Columbia University. Braymer taught at Sequoia High School in California until 1966, later contributing to educational publishing. She authored several notable works, including "The Walls of Windy Troy," a biography of archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann that received acclaim from the American Library Association, and "Atlantis: The Biography of a Legend," which explores the myth of Atlantis. Braymer's literary contributions reflect her interests in storytelling and historical exploration, making her a significant figure in educational and literary circles.
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Marjorie Braymer
Writer
- Born: March 21, 1911
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: November 18, 1988
- Place of death: Carmel, California
Biography
Marjorie Elizabeth Braymer was born on March 21, 1911, in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Ernest Story Braymer and Luella Lively Braymer. She was interested in books and writing from an early age and went frequently to the Loop area of Chicago to visit bookstores and hear presentations by writers. One of her favorite memories was the day poet Carl Sandburg visited Braymer’s elementary school and one of her teachers, who recognized her writing talent, made a point of introducing her to Sandburg.
Shortly after Braymer graduated from high school the Depression began, so after only one year of college she was forced to learn to type and take shorthand and get a secretarial job. She found work as a manuscript reader for the New York City offices of various Hollywood film studios. The work was difficult and pressure-filled, but she was glad for any chance to work with writing. After ten years, however, she realized she was not making progress on her own writing career, so she moved back to the Midwest, where tuition was less expensive, and went back to college. She graduated with a degree in education from Ohio State University in 1943, and won that university’s Vandewater Poetry Prize that same year. She then earned a master’s degree at Columbia University Teachers College.
In 1945, she moved to Redwood City, California, where she taught at Sequoia High School until 1966. After retirement, she served for a year as an editor for the educational publisher Addison Wesley in Palo Alto, California. She had written articles about teaching to educational journals and her first published book was an anthology of short stories for school use, Adventures in Reading (1957), coedited with Evan Lodge. The first book she wrote was also her most important: The Walls of Windy Troy (1960), a biography of the German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann. As exciting as a novel, the book tells of Schliemann’s lifelong obsession with Troy and his discovery of the ancient city’s ruins. The book, which reflected Braymer’s own interest in archeology, was named an American Library Association Notable Book. In 1983, she returned to the ancient world with Atlantis: The Biography of a Legend, which compares legends about the lost island with modern discoveries of ruins on an island in the Aegean Sea.