Florence A. "Flo" Gibson (February 7, 1924 – January 7, 2011) was an American narrator of

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s. She has also been in many radio dramas as well as appearing on stage. She graduated from New York's

Neighborhood Playhouse A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

. She died of cancer in 2011.Margalit Fox
"Flo Gibson, Grande Dame of Audiobooks, Dies at 86"
(obituary), ''

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 ...

'', Jan. 15, 2011.

Flo Gibson was a familiar voice to listening audiences during the golden years of radio, an actress in the E.T.O. during World War II, and she performed in Equity Library Theater in New York. After retiring to raise a family, she returned to her career 20 years ago. She recently celebrated recording her 1,000th book for the Library of Congress and seven commercial companies. Her narration has won national acclaim, four times on the American Library Association’s "Notable Recordings for Children" lists and three times as the recipient of the Parents’ Choice Award. She was also named "Best Female Narrator" in the Audio Awards article in Book World.

She said she loved the classics. Some of her favorite authors to record were

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

. Other notable books she has read are:

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

, ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...

'', ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels and ...

'', and '' The Wizard of Oz''; more recently she has recorded ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...

'' and ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' and over one thousand others. Gibson started her own recorded books company, Audio Book Contractors, Inc. in 1983 at a time when there were very few audiobook companies, and the few that existed were not including unabridged classic audiobooks in their catalogues. Realizing the importance of preserving such works for the listening public, she created her own company to preserve unabridged classic books for the listening audience. She then employed local talent from the Washington theatre community to help her in the recording, monitoring, packaging and distribution of all varieties of classic books on cassettes. Some of these early employees, such as

Grover Gardner Grover Gardner (b 1956) is an American narrator of audiobooks. As of May 2018, he has narrated over 1,200 books. He was the ''Publishers Weekly'' "Audiobook Narrator of the Year" (2005) and is among '' AudioFile'' magazine's "Best Voices of the Cen ...

, Mary Woods and John MacDonald, have gone on to continue their careers with great success in the recorded book industry and related fields. In 2009 she recorded her 1,130th book.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Flo Audiobook narrators 1924 births 2011 deaths Place of birth missing American radio actresses Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Deaths from cancer 21st-century American women

Further reading

References