Bernice Thurman Hunter, (November 3, 1922 – May 29, 2002) was a Canadian children's author.

Life and career

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Hunter spent her adult years as an

Eaton's The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...

employee, and did not publish her first book, ''That Scatterbrain Booky'' (1981), until she was a grandmother. Her stories are recalled fondly by her fans for showing an accurate and enjoyable portrayal of Toronto through the Depression and War years. She maintained a connection with her roots, and frequently returned to the areas she wrote about to give public readings of her works. Hunter experienced a multitude of health challenges in her later years, however she continued writing. In 2001, she was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. While the honour was awarded posthumously, she was informed of the award shortly before her death. Her first series of books has been adapted into a film called "

Booky Makes Her Mark ''Booky Makes Her Mark'' is a made-for-TV movie that is based on the books by Bernice Thurman Hunter, starring Tatiana Maslany. The family film also features Megan Follows, Roberta Maxwell and Lally Cadeau. Filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada an ...

Selected works

* ''That Scatterbrain Booky'' (1981) * ''With Love from Booky'' (1983) * ''A Place for Margaret'' (1984) * ''As Ever, Booky'' (1985) * ''Margaret in the Middle'' (1986) * ''Lamplighter'' (1987) * ''Margaret on Her Way'' (1988) * ''The Railroader'' (1990) * ''The Firefighter'' (1991) * ''Hawk and Stretch'' (1993) * ''Amy's Promise'' (1995) * ''Janey's Choice'' (1996) * ''Two Much Alike'' (1997) * ''It Takes Two'' (1999) * ''The Girls They Left Behind'' (2000) Published posthumously; Red Maple Award for Fiction shortlist 2007

Other

An award held by Swansea Public School for writing was named after Hunter.

Notes

External links

Bernice Thurman Hunter
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

(Youth Encyclopedia) 1922 births 2002 deaths Canadian children's writers Members of the Order of Canada Writers from Toronto Eaton's {{Canada-writer-stub