Barbara Murray Holland (April 5, 1933 – September 7, 2010) was an

American author American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

who wrote in defense of such modern-day vices as

cursing Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, ru ...

, drinking, eating fatty food and smoking cigarettes, as well as a memoir of her time spent growing up in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...

, near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Buerger, Megan
"Author Barbara Holland, 77"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', September 19, 2010. Accessed September 15, 2022.

Early life

She was born on April 5, 1933, in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Chevy Chase. Her parents divorced when she was a child and her mother later married Thomas Holland, whom she strongly disliked, later writing that "My friends and I were all deathly afraid of our fathers ... Fathers were angry; it was their job." Grimes, William
"Barbara Holland, Defender of Small Vices, Dies at 77"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', September 13, 2010. Accessed September 14, 2010. Her mother, Marion Holland, had four more children and made a career writing and illustrating children's books—including ''A Big Ball of String,'' (1958), one of the earliest Random House

Beginner Books Beginner Books is the Random House imprint for young children ages 3–9, co-founded by Phyllis Cerf with Ted Geisel, more often known as Dr. Seuss, and his wife Helen Palmer Geisel. Their first book was Dr. Seuss's ''The Cat in the Hat'' (19 ...

. Following in her mother's footsteps, Barbara Holland won the National Scholastic poetry competition in consecutive years while in high school, making her the first junior to win the competition and the first to win it twice when she won again the following school year.Staff
"Local author Barbara Holland dies at 77"
''

Loudoun Times-Mirror ''Loudoun Times-Mirror'' is a weekly newspaper based in Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early le ...

'', September 10, 2010. Accessed September 14, 2010.

Career

Relishing the ability to support herself, Holland started working at

Hecht's Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland. By 20 ...

department store in the early 1950s. In a riposte to

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

's 1929 essay ''

A Room of One's Own ''A Room of One's Own'' is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf, first published in September 1929. The work is based on two lectures Woolf delivered in October 1928 at Newnham College and Girton College, women's colleges at the University of C ...

'' in which Woolf stated that "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," Holland wrote, "No, Mrs. Woolf." She must have "A job, Mrs. Woolf." Holland moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where she worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency. She also began writing articles and short stories that were regularly published in magazines including '' Ladies’ Home Journal'', ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

'', ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publication as of January 2019 and now operates an article-comprise ...

'' and ''

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

''. Holland's first published books were for children, followed by ''Mother's Day'' in 1980, an autobiographical account of raising children while working full-time. In 1988 she published ''The Name of the Cat,'' a popular book that she updated and reissued as ''Secrets of the Cat: Its Lore, Legend and Lives'' in 1994, 2002 and 2010. Turning to essays, Holland published three collections: ''Endangered Pleasures: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences'' (1995); ''Bingo Night at the Fire Hall: The Case for Cows, Orchards, Bake Sales & Fairs'' (1997), and ''Wasn't the Grass Greener? A Curmudgeon's Fond Memories'' (1999). ''Endangered Pleasures'' included some of her essays supporting habits such as drinking and smoking. Holland lamented the increasing social unacceptability of common vices, saying: "We have let the new Puritans take over, spreading a layer of foreboding across the land ... and denying ourselves even the most harmless delights marks the suitably somber outlook on life." Historical and biographical works included ''Hail to the Chiefs: How to Tell Your Polks From Your Tylers'' (1990), which was updated in 2003 as ''Hail to the Chiefs: Presidential Mischief, Morals & Malarkey, from George W. to George W.''; ''They Went Whistling: Women Wayfarers, Warriors, Runaways, and Renegades'' (2001), and ''Gentlemen's Blood: A History of Dueling From Swords at Dawn to Pistols at Dusk'' (2003). Holland's 2005 memoir ''When All the World Was Young'' recounted growing up during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 2007 ''

'' published a profile of Holland after the release of her 16th book, ''The Joy of Drinking'', which she wrote to protest the rise of "broccoli, exercise and Starbucks." During the interview, she poured herself a glass of wine and lit a cigarette, pointing to each and saying, "Stuck up here on this mountain, I have only two hobbies" and said that she regularly drank a "half-gallon of Scotch a week".Carlson, Peter
"She'll Drink to That: In Her Books, Barbara Holland Praises Old-Time Social Pleasures"
''The Washington Post'', May 29, 2007. Accessed September 14, 2010.

Death

She lived in Philadelphia for most of her life and moved to

Bluemont, Virginia Bluemont is an unincorporated village in Loudoun County, Virginia located at the eastern base of Snickers Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The village's center is located along Snickersville Turnpike ( Virginia Route 734), west of the incorpor ...

in 1990, to a cabin where she wrote many of her books. Holland died at age 77 on September 7, 2010, of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

at her home in Bluemont. She was survived by a daughter, two sons and two grandchildren. Her three marriages all ended in divorce.

Bibliography

*; (Reprint: Puffin Books 1993) * *; (Reprint: Akadine Press 1997) * * *; (Reprint: Permanent Press 2003) * *; (Reprint: Harper Perennial 2000) * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Barbara 1933 births 2010 deaths American children's writers American essayists American memoirists American women short story writers American short story writers Deaths from cancer in Virginia Deaths from lung cancer People from Loudoun County, Virginia Writers from Philadelphia Writers from Virginia Writers from Washington, D.C. American women memoirists American women essayists American women children's writers People from Chevy Chase, Maryland 21st-century American women