David Magie Cory (October 26, 1872 – July 4, 1966) was a writer of more than fifty books for young children. He was best known for his ''Jack Rabbit'' stories, which were syndicated in newspapers for forty years.David Cory, ''Daily News'' (New York, NY) July 6, 1966, page 67
/ref>

Early life

Cory was born in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York on October 26, 1872. His parents were David Magie Cory and Ellen Monroe. He was a descendant of John Cory, one of the original European settlers of

Southold, Long Island The Town of Southold is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located in the northeastern tip of the county, on the North Fork of Long Island. The population was 23,732 at the 2020 census. The town also contains a ha ...

in 1640. While attending school in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

he would write compositions about forest animals.Broker Who Weaves Children’s Stories; David Cory Leads a Dual Life, Bending Over a Ticker and Writing About Animals That Talk, ''The New York Times'', November 25, 1917, Section XX, page 2 In 1899 Cory became a stockbroker. When his two sons were old enough to understand stories, he began to make up bedtime stories for them.

"Oh, yes," he would say, when they asked for a tale, "this morning Lady Robin came to my window; fresh from the ‘Friendly Forest'," or "This morning, oh so early, little Miss Southwind, blown to our city in a cloud of snowflakes, told me she had visited the 'Friendly Forest' last night." And then the story would unravel itself, until the quaint little animals, each endowed with a name and personality, would array themselves in the minds of the children, and the end would come when "Mr. Lucky Lefthindfoot" would stop his "Luckymobile" to let pass a chain of busy ants on their way to school.

He wrote down his stories and turned them into homemade books for his boys. Neighborhood children would borrow the books, and they became so popular that a friend suggested he find a publisher for his work so that all children could enjoy what he wrote.Author David Cory, at 93; Wrote 'Jack Rabbit' Series, ''Newsday'' (Nassau Edition), July 6, 1966, page 57
/ref> Cory took fourteen of his stories to an editor, who accepted them for publication. For a time he was a stockbroker from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and wrote children’s stories during the evenings, on Sundays and holidays. Then he gave up his day job, and became a full-time writer.

Writing career

In 1915 Cory began writing a daily ''Jack Rabbit'' bedtime story for the '' New York Evening Mail''. In 1923 he switched newspapers, and his stories were printed in the ''

New York Evening World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publ ...

''. His ''Jack Rabbit'' stories were syndicated in newspapers for forty years. After his stories appeared in newspapers they were compiled into a series of books. Other David Cory book series published in the 1920s include ''Puss-In-Boots, Jr.'', ''Little Journey to Happyland'', and ''Billy Bunny''. During the 1930s Cory wrote the ''Little Indian'' book series. In the Acknowledgments of the volume entitled ''Hawk Eye'' Cory listed authors who helped him learn about the customs and legends of the Sioux. Those authors included George Bird Grinnell and

Charles Eastman Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939) was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was the first Native American to be certified in Western medicine and was "one of the most prolific authors and speakers ...

Radio work and story telling tours

In 1922 Cory entered the new field of commercial radio. WJZ, a pioneering radio station, originally located in Newark, New Jersey, began broadcasting a nightly bedtime story for children told by nationally known authors such as

Thornton Burgess Thornton Waldo Burgess (January 17, 1874 – June 5, 1965) was an American conservationist and author of children's stories. He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man, after his newspaper column ''Bedtime Stories''. By the time he retir ...

. David Cory told a ''Jack Rabbit'' story one evening a week. His radio program ended in May 1923, when WJZ was sold and moved to New York City. Cory also traveled across the United States and Canada telling stories to children in public schools. When storytelling on the radio, and in schools, he was known as Uncle Dave.

Personal life

David Cory married Louise Elizabeth Treacy. The couple had two sons, David Monroe Cory (1903-1996) and Daniel Magie Cory (1904-1972) The 1910 U. S. Census lists David Cory as being divorced, and he and his young sons living with Cory’s widowed mother, Ellen S. Cory, in Manhattan.United States Census, 1910, Manhattan Ward 19, Sheet A1

Later life and death

In 1957 Cory broke a hip in a fall and gave up writing. He went to live with his son, the Rev. Dr. David M. Cory, who resided in Brooklyn. He died at home on July 4, 1966.

Note

Newspaper articles about his syndicated newspaper stories and radio program refer to ''Jack Rabbit'' stories, but advertisements for his book series refers to them as the ''Little Jack Rabbit'' series. Therefore his book series has been given the longer title in the Bibliography.

Bibliography

Poetry

*Poems (1904) *Moods (1911)

Little Jack Rabbit

*Little Jack Rabbit’s Adventures (1921) *Little Jack Rabbit and Danny Fox (1921) *Little Jack Rabbit and the Squirrel Brothers (1921) *Little Jack Rabbit and Chippy Chipmunk (1921) *Little Jack Rabbit and the Big Brown Bear *Little Jack Rabbit and Uncle John Hare (1922) *Little Jack Rabbit and Professor Crow *Little Jack Rabbit and Old Man Weasel *Little Jack Rabbit and Mr. Wicked Wolf *Little Jack Rabbit and Hungry Hawk *Little Jack Rabbit and the Police Dog *Little Jack Rabbit and Miss Mousie *Little Jack Rabbit and Uncle Lucky *Little Jack Rabbit Yellow Dog Tramp *Little Jack Rabbit’s Favorite Bunny Tales (1926) *Little Jack Rabbit and the Circus Elephant (1928)

Puss-In-Boots, Jr.

*The Adventures of Puss-In-Boots, Jr. (1917) *Further Adventures of Puss-In-Boots, Jr. *Puss-In-Boots, Jr. in Fairyland *Travels of Puss-In-Boots, Jr. *Puss-In-Boots, Jr. and Old Mother Goose *Puss-In-Boots, Jr. in New Mother Goose Land *Puss-In-Boots, Jr. And the Good Gray Horse (1921) *Puss-In-Boots, Jr. and Tom Thumb *Puss-In-Boots, Jr. and Robinson Crusoe (1922) *Puss-In-Boots, Jr. and the Man in the Moon

Billy Bunny

*Billy Bunny and His Friends (1917) *Billy Bunny and Daddy Fox (1920) *Billy Bunny and Uncle Bull Frog (1920) *Billy Bunny and Daddy Fox *Billy Bunny and Timmie Chipmunk (1921) *Billy Bunny and Robbie Redbreast *Billy Bunny and Uncle Lucky Lefthindfoot *Billy Bunny and the Friendly Elephant

Little Journeys to Happyland

*The Cruise of the Noah’s Ark *The Magic Soap Bubble (1922) *The Iceberg Express (1922) *The Wind Wagon *The Magic Umbrella

Stand alone books

*Mother Nature’s Cheerful Children (1914) *The Jumble Book: A Jumble of Good Things (1920) *Sunny Meadows Stories

Little Indian

*Little Indian (1934) *Red Feather (1934) *White Otter (1934) *Star Maiden (1935) *Red Feather and Star Maiden (1935) *Lone Star (1936) *Raven Wing (1937) *Hawk Eye (1938) *Chippewa Trail (1939)

References

External links

*
Archive at Syracuse University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cory, David 1872 births 1966 deaths American children's writers 20th-century American poets People from Oyster Bay (town), New York