Dorothy Edith Gilman (June 25, 1923 – February 2, 2012) was an American writer. She is best known for the

Mrs. Pollifax Mrs. Emily Pollifax is the heroine of a series of spy-mystery novels by Dorothy Gilman. Mrs. Pollifax is a widow and senior citizen who decides one day to leave her comfortable apartment in New Brunswick, New Jersey and join the CIA. Through a ...

series. Begun in a time when women in mystery meant

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

Miss Marple Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Chr ...

and international espionage meant young government men like

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

and the spies of

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

and

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, Emily Pollifax, her heroine, became a spy in her 60s and is very likely the only spy in literature to belong simultaneously to the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

and the local garden club.The New York Times — Books, ''Dorothy Gilman, ‘Mrs. Pollifax’ Novelist, Dies at 88'' by Margalit Fox, February 3, 2012
/ref>

Biography

Dorothy Gilman was born in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.minister James Bruce and Essa (Starkweather) Gilman. She started writing when she was 9. At 11, she competed against 10- to 16-year-olds in a story contest and won first place. Planning to write and illustrate books for children, she attended

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.''New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and Their Dreams'', 14.4 (March–April 2007): 49(1) She married teacher Edgar A. Butters, Jr. September 15, 1945; they divorced in 1965. The couple had two children, Christopher and Jonathan. Gilman attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

1963–1964. She was Unitarian. Gilman worked as an art teacher and telephone operator before becoming an author. She wrote children's stories for more than ten years under the name Dorothy Gilman Butters and then began writing adult novels about Mrs. Pollifax, a retired grandmother who becomes a CIA agent. The Mrs. Pollifax series made Gilman famous. Gilman's life is strongly reflected in her writing. She traveled extensively, and her travels became the settings for her Mrs. Pollifax books. In the 1970s, she moved to a property in a small town in Nova Scotia where she grew most of her own vegetables and herbs. This period was the focus of her memoir, ''A New Kind of Country''. Her knowledge of medicinal herbs informed several of her stories, including ''A Nun in the Closet'' and ''Thale's Folly''. ''Thale's Folly'' is one of her few books featuring a male protagonist; most of her books feature strong women having adventures around the world. In addition to Nova Scotia, Gilman spent much of her life in Connecticut, Maine, and New Mexico. In 2010 Gilman was awarded the annual Grand Master Award by the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

. In 2012, she died at age 88 of complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Works

As Dorothy Gilman Butters

Under her married name, Dorothy Gilman Butters, she wrote books for young adults (except as noted) beginning in the late 1940s: * ''Enchanted Caravan'' (1949) () * ''Carnival Gypsy'' (1950) () * ''Ragamuffin Alley'' (1951) () * ''The Calico Year'' (1953) () * ''Four Party Line'' (1954) () * ''Papa Dolphin's Table'' (1955; for children) () * ''Girl in Buckskin'' (1956) () * ''Heartbreak Street'' (1958) () * ''Witch's Silver'' (1959) () * ''Masquerade'' (1961) () * ''Heart's Design'' (Masquerade Republished) (1963) () * ''Ten Leagues to Boston Town'' (1963) () * ''The Bells of Freedom'' (1963) () She also contributed to ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'', ''

Jack and Jill "Jack and Jill" (sometimes "Jack and Gill", particularly in earlier versions) is a traditional English nursery rhyme. The Roud Folk Song Index classifies the commonest tune and its variations as number 10266, although it has been set to severa ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', ''

The Writer ''The Writer'' is a magazine for writers, published monthly by Madavor Media. History ''The Writer'' was first established by William H. Hills and Robert Luce, two ''Boston Globe'' reporters, as "a monthly magazine to interest and help all lit ...

'', and other magazines. She also contributed a chapter to the book, ''On Creative Writing,'' edited by Paul Engle (1964).

The Mrs. Pollifax series

Gilman began writing under her maiden name for the first book of the Mrs. Pollifax series, ''The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax.'' The heroine, the eccentric Emily Pollifax, is a 60-ish, bored, garden-clubbing grandmother, and widow. Considering her life without real purpose, and after briefly contemplating suicide, she presents herself to the CIA, offering to serve as an agent. Initially recruited through a misunderstanding, she is excited, and a bit clueless about her role, but she quickly adapts to an unfortunate turn of events, and displays the common sense and grit that will guide her through future intrigues. The series, which ended in 2000 with ''Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled'', consists of fast-paced escapades filled with danger and intrigue in Mexico, Turkey, Thailand, China, Morocco, Zambia, Sicily, and elsewhere. * ''The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax'' (1966) () * ''The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax'' (1970) () * ''The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax'' (1971) () * ''A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax'' (1973) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax on Safari'' (1977) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station'' (1983) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha'' (1985) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle'' (1988) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish'' (1990) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief'' (1993) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax Pursued'' (1995) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer'' (1996) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist'' (1997) () * ''Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled'' (2000) ()

Other books

Additional books she wrote under the name Dorothy Gilman: * ''Uncertain Voyage'' (1967) () * ''Clairvoyant Countess'' (1975) () * ''A Nun in the Closet'' (1975), Winner of the Catholic Book Award"Dorothy Gilman." ''Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors'', Gale, 2012. ''Gale In Context: Biography''. () * ''A New Kind of Country'' (1978) (reissued by Fawcett in 1989) (); (

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

), memoir of her life in a Nova Scotia village * ''The Tightrope Walker'' (1979) () * ''The Maze in the Heart of the Castle'' (1983; for young adults) () * ''Incident at Badamya'' (1989) () * ''Caravan'' (1992) () * ''Thale's Folly'' (1999) () * ''Kaleidoscope: A Countess Karitska Novel'' (2002) ()

Film/TV adaptations

'' The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax'' was filmed by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

in 1970 as '' Mrs. Pollifax-Spy'' starring

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary ''Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

starred in the made-for-TV movie ''The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax'' in 1999.

References

Sources

*''Contemporary Authors Online, Gale'', 2006. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center''. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gal
Fan website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilman, Dorothy 1923 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers American children's writers American spy fiction writers American women novelists American Unitarian Universalists Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Writers from New Brunswick, New Jersey University of Pennsylvania alumni American women short story writers Edgar Award winners People from Rye Brook, New York American women children's writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Novelists from New Jersey Deaths from dementia in New York (state)