Margaret Carver Leighton
Margaret Carver Leighton was a distinguished author known for her contributions to historical fiction and contemporary adventures aimed at young readers. Born into a family with deep roots in American history, she had a rich educational background, attending prestigious institutions such as Radcliffe College, where she earned a degree in social ethics, economics, and philosophy. Her early writing endeavors included crafting fairy tales and an illustrated adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."
Leighton's career took off after she moved to California following the death of her husband, James Herbert Leighton. She became an accomplished author, publishing her first short story in 1937 and subsequently writing extensively for various children's publications. Her work is particularly noted for its meticulous historical research, with several books focused on life during the Middle Ages.
In addition to her writing, Leighton was actively involved in literary communities, serving on the Board of Trustees of the Santa Monica Library and holding leadership roles in organizations such as the Authors League of America and PEN. Throughout her career, she received several awards, recognizing her contributions to children's literature.
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Margaret Carver Leighton
Writer
- Born: December 20, 1896
- Birthplace: Oberlin, Ohio
- Died: 1987
Biography
Noted for producing distinguished historical fiction and contemporary adventures for young readers, author Margaret Carver Leighton was the daughter of Flora (Kirkendall) Carver and Oberlin and Harvard professor of economics Thomas Nixon Carver. Her family traced its ancestry to before the American Revolution. The family had ties to the East Coast but had moved to California before settling in the Midwest at the time of Leighton’s birth. They eventually moved back to the East Coast when her father was appointed at Harvard.
The family made frequent trips back to the West Coast during Leighton’s childhood. Leighton had early passions for reading and writing. As a child, she wrote her own fairy tales and wrote and illustrated her own adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities (1859).
Leighton attended schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Paris, France; and Lausanne, Switzerland, before taking her B.A. in social ethics, economics, and philosophy at Radcliffe College. While at Radcliffe, Leigthon was influenced as a thinker and writer by author Rachel Field. After graduation, Leighton worked briefly as a nurse in an Army hospital during World War I. Later she worked in a publishing house, where she set type, edited, and worked in advertising.
Leighton married James Herbert Leighton in 1921 after meeting him while he was studying business administration at Harvard. The couple had four children: James Herbert, Jr., Mary, Thomas Carver, and Sylvia. The family lived in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Memories of their home in Virginia became the inspiration for her first novel, The Secret of the Old House (1941). James Leighton died in 1935.
Leighton moved to California after her husband’s death and began what would become a successful career as an author of children’s books, both fiction and nonfiction. She published her first short story in the journal Portal in 1937. She also published short works in Boys Today, Child Life, and American Girl. She became known as an author who carefully researched the historical material about which she wrote. She wrote several books on life and customs of the Middle Ages (Leighton cited Hope Muntz’s 1948 novel The Golden Warrior, about the end of the Saxon era in England, as an influence). Her short story “The Sword,” about the adventures of Captain John Smith, was illustrated by her son James.
Leighton was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Monica Library as well as a member of the Authors League of America and PEN, the latter of which she served as the Los Angeles center’s president from 1957 to 1959. Among the writer’s received awards were the Commonwealth Club of California silver medal for The Singing Cave (1945), the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Memorial Children’s Book Award for Comanche of the Seventh (1957), Radcliffe College’s Alumnae Achievement Award, and the Southern California Book Council Award.