Mary Austin
Mary Hunter Austin (1868-1934) was a prominent American author known for her deep connection to nature and the American Southwest. Born in Carlinville, Illinois, she experienced significant personal loss at a young age, which led her to develop an introspective nature and a profound bond with the environment. After attending Blackburn College, she moved with her family to Bakersfield, California, where the challenges of desert life shaped her worldview and inspired her literary work.
Austin's love for the desert and the Native American communities significantly influenced her writing, particularly in her acclaimed book, *The Land of Little Rain*. Throughout her life, she associated with notable literary figures such as Jack London and H. G. Wells, and her work often addressed themes of feminism and the human experience in relation to the natural world. After separating from her husband, she settled in Carmel and later in Santa Fe, where she continued to write and engage with Native American culture. Austin's legacy endures through her contributions to literature, particularly regarding the intersection of nature, culture, and identity.
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Mary Austin
Author
- Born: September 9, 1868
- Birthplace: Carlinville, Illinois
- Died: August 13, 1934
- Place of death: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Biography
Mary Hunter Austin was born in the small Illinois town of Carlinville. She was the fourth child of George and Susannah Hunter. Austin was an imaginative and sometimes rebellious as a youth. She spent a great amount of time by herself, wandering the fields and orchards near her home, and she developed a personal identification with the natural world. She was close to her father and often in conflict with her mother. At the age of ten, Austin’s father and her favorite sister, Jenny, both died. The deaths threatened to destroy Austin’s remaining family, and increased the existing tensions between Austin and her mother. Feeling even more isolated from her family, Austin became more introspective, and turned to nature for comfort.
At the age of sixteen, Austin entered Blackburn College in Carlinville. However, she had trouble adjusting to academic life and became ill. When she returned to college, she focused her attention on the sciences, and she graduated from Blackburn College at the age of eighteen. Following her graduation, she reluctantly moved with her family to Bakersfield, California, where the family established a small homestead. The physical demands of desert life caused Austin to view nature with a new perspective. She began to think about the reality of the physical environment and about how people needed to adapt to their environment.
In 1891, Austin married Stafford S. Austin, an educated land speculator. For several years, the Austins lived in various towns throughout the Owens Valley in California. Here Austin developed a love for the desert and the Native American people who lived there. Her sketches of life in the desert figured prominently into her first book, The Land of Little Rain. Six years after her marriage, Austin separated from her husband and went to live in Carmel, California. In Carmel, she became acquainted with other writers, including Jack London, Ambrose Bierce, and George Sterling. She also became friends with author and magazine editor Charles Lummis. During travels to New York City and later to Europe, Austin met writers H. G. Wells, Joseph Conrad, and George Bernard Shaw. Between 1910 and 1915, Austin attempted to establish herself as a playwright in New York, but she was largely unsuccessful. Her 1912 novel, A Woman of Genius, combined her interests in the theater and in feminism.
Between 1918 and 1923, Austin frequently traveled to New Mexico, where she became acquainted with painter Georgia O’Keefe and writer D. H. Lawrence. Her journeys to New Mexico reawakened her fascination with Native American peoples and their struggle to survive in a desert environment. In 1924, Austin built a house in Santa Fe, and she moved there permanently in 1925 after being named an associate in Native American Literature at the School of American Research in Santa Fe. Austin died in Santa Fe in 1934.