Helen Catherine Knapp Markley Miller (December 4, 1896 – November 1984) was an American writer of historical and

biographical fiction When studying literature, biography and its relationship to literature is often a subject of literary criticism, and is treated in several different forms. Two scholarly approaches use biography or biographical approaches to the past as a tool for ...

for children taking place in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

Biography

Helen Markley Miller was born in

Cedar Falls, Iowa Cedar Falls is a city in Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 40,713. It is home to the University of Northern Iowa, a public university. History Cedar Falls was first settled in March 1845 by ...

. In 1919 she graduated from the Iowa Teachers College in her city of birth. Subsequently, she worked as an English teacher until her marriage. She married journalist Martin Baxter Miller (May 30, 1900 – May 14, 1944), who became managing editor at the ''

Idaho Statesman The ''Idaho Statesman'' is the daily newspaper of Boise, Idaho, in the western United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History The paper was first published as the ''Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman'' on July 26, 1864, by James S. Reynolds ...

''. After her husband died of a heart attack, she picked up teaching again.Staff report (May 15, 1944). Martin B. Miller. ''

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 d ...

'' In 1953 Doubleday published Miller's first book, ''Promenade All''. In 1954 she graduated with a master's degree from

Western State College of Colorado Western Colorado University (Western) is a public university in Gunnison, Colorado. It enrolls approximately 2,600 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, with 25 percent coming from out of state. Western offers more than 100 undergraduate areas ...

. Her masters' thesis, ''Let me be a free man'', was about

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...

.Bibliographical record for "Let me be a free man"
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

Like many of her books, it was a fictionalized biography. After her graduate studies, Miller lived in McCall,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

and wrote 21 more books. All were published by major publishing houses. She was represented by literary agent

Barthold Fles Barthold "Bart" Fles (February 7, 1902 – December 19, 1989) was a Dutch-American literary agent, author, translator, editor and publisher. Among his many clients were Elias Canetti, Raymond Loewy, Heinrich Mann, Joseph Roth, Felix Salten, I ...

. Miller had taught at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The University ...

. Helen Markley Miller's only son, Andrew Markley "Mack" Miller, participated as a cross-country skier in the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

of 1956 and 1960. Mack and his sport formed the inspiration to Mrs. Miller's sixth novel, ''Ski fast, ski long''. In 1966, ''Promenade all'' was published in German as ''Indianerblut'' (Indian blood).

Bibliography

* 1953 - ''Promenade all'' (Doubleday) * 1957 - ''Dust in the gold sack'' (Doubleday) * 1957 - ''

Benjamin Bonneville Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (April 14, 1796 – June 12, 1878) was an American officer in the United States Army, fur trade, fur trapper, and explorer in the American West. He is noted for his expeditions to the Oregon Country and the Gre ...

, soldier explorer, 1796-1878'' (Messner) * 1959 - ''Miss Gail'' (Doubleday) * 1959 - ''Thunder Rolling; the Story of

'' (Putnam) * 1960 - ''Ski fast, ski long'' (Doubleday) * 1960 - ''Woman doctor of the West, Bethenia Owens-Adair'' (Messner) * 1961 - ''The long valley'' (Doubleday) * 1961 - ''Westering women'' (Doubleday) * 1962 - ''The lucky laces'' (Doubleday) * 1962 - ''Sagebrush ranch'' (Doubleday) * 1962 - ''Striving to be champion,

Babe Didrikson Zaharias Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball and track and field. She won two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Summer Ol ...

'' (Kingston House) * 1963 - ''Blades of Grass'' (Doubleday) * 1964 - ''Kirsti'' (Doubleday) * 1965 - ''Ski the mountain'' (Doubleday) * 1966 - ''Julie'' (Doubleday) * 1966 - ''Lens on the West; the story of

William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of Ame ...

'' (Doubleday) * 1967 - ''Janey and friends'' (Doubleday) * 1968 - ''Beloved Monster'' (Doubleday) * 1968 - ''

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Ame ...

, frontier fighter'' (Putnam) * 1970 - ''The San Francisco earthquake and fire'' (Putnam) * 1971 - ''

Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and ...

on the far frontier'' (Putnam)

Honors and awards

* 1966 - Nominee for the

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award The Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award) annually recognizes one new American children's book selected by the vote of Vermont schoolchildren. It was inaugurated in 1957. The award is co-spon ...

with ''Kirsti'' (''

Ribsy ''Ribsy'' is a children's book by Beverly Cleary Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of ...

'' by

Beverly Cleary Beverly Atlee Cleary (née Bunn; April 12, 1916March 25, 2021) was an American writer of chapter books, children's and young adult fiction. One of America's most successful authors, 91 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide sin ...

won)

References

External links

Full text of Benjamin Bonneville, Soldier Explorer, 1796-1878
downloadable in several formats {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Helen Markley 1896 births 1984 deaths 20th-century American novelists American women novelists People from Cedar Falls, Iowa People from McCall, Idaho Writers from Waterloo, Iowa University of Northern Iowa alumni Western Colorado University alumni Novelists from Idaho 20th-century American women writers Novelists from Iowa