Idella Purnell (April 1, 1901 – December 1, 1982) (also known as Idella Purnell Stone and Ikey Stone) was a Mexican academic, librarian, teacher, and children's book author.

Biography

She was born in

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaja ...

, to the dentist George Edward Purnell and his wife Idella. She became a teacher in the primary schools of Guadalajara at a very early age, in 1915. She studied at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where the poet

Witter Bynner Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures ther ...

was one of her teachers and she served as an associate editor of the literary magazine ''The Occident''. After graduating from the university in 1922, she returned to Guadalajara and became a secretary in the American Consulate there, continuing in that position through 1924. In 1923, she started the poetry magazine ''Palms'', which she continued to publish until 1930. In 1925, she served as the head of the foreign book department at the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

. She moved to

Aberdeen, Washington Aberdeen () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 17,013 at the 2020 census. The city is the economic center of Grays Harbor County, bordering the cities of Hoquiam and Cosmopolis. Aberdeen is occasi ...

for a short time and then returned to Guadalajara. In 1932, she served as the dean and organizer of the first summer session at the

University of Guadalajara The University of Guadalajara ( es, Universidad de Guadalajara) is a public higher education institution in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. The university has several high schools as well as graduate and undergraduate campuses, which are distr ...

. Beginning in 1935, she opened a gold mine at Ameca, Mexico, remaining there through 1937. She also began publishing fiction at about this time. Beginning in 1938, she taught

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

in Los Angeles. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she was a

riveter A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...

for Douglas Aviation and

Fletcher Aviation Fletcher Aviation Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer founded by three brothers, Wendell, Frank, and Maurice Fletcher, in Pasadena, California in 1941. History The initial aim of the company was to produce a wooden basic trainer aircraft (th ...

. In 1957, she became a practitioner of

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

, and remained one through 1966, serving briefly as the director of the Center for Dianetics and Scientology in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. She died in Los Angeles in 1982.''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2009. Reproduced in ''Biography Resource Center'', Farmington Hills, Mich: Gale, 2009. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC.

Marriages and children

In 1927 she married John M. Weatherwax; they divorced about 1930. She married Remington Stone on September 10, 1932. She had two children with him, Marijane Stone (born 1934) and Remington P.S. Stone (born 1938), and they brought up her niece Carrie Purnell (born 1945).

Awards

Her book ''The Merry Frogs'' was named a Julia Ellsworth Ford Foundation Book in 1936. She also received a diploma from the Second Mexican Congress for the Fine Arts and Humanities.

Publications

*''The Talking Bird: An Aztec Story Book'' (with John M. Weatherwax), 1930 *''Tales Told to Little Paco by His Grandfather'', 1930. *''Why the Bee Is Busy, and Other Rumanian Fairy Tales: Told to Little Marcu by Baba Maritz'' (with John M. Weatherwax), 1930. *''The Wishing Owl: A Maya Storybook'', 1931. *''Little Yusuf: The Story of a Syrian Boy'', Macmillan, 1931. *''The Lost Princess of Yucatán'', Holt, 1931. *''The Forbidden City'', Macmillan, 1932. *(contributor) ''Gringa'', edited by Emma Lindsay-Squier, Houghton, 1934. *''Pedro the Potter'', Thomas Nelson, 1935. *''The Merry Frogs'', Suttonhouse, 1936. *(adapter) ''

Felix Salten Felix Salten (; 6 September 1869 – 8 October 1945) was an Austro-Hungarian author and literary critic in Vienna. Life and death Salten was born Siegmund Salzmann on 6 September 1869 in Pest, Austria-Hungary. His father was Fülöp Salzmann, ...

's ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. ...

'', Health, 1944. *(contributor) ''Journey with Genius: Recollections and Reflections Concerning

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

, John Day, 1951. *''Luther Burbank: El Mago de las Plantas'',

Espasa Calpe Espasa-Calpe was a Spanish publisher which existed during the 20th century. It was created in 1925, by the union of Editorial Calpe, founded by Nicolás María de Urgoiti in 1918, and Editorial Espasa, founded by José and Pau Espasa i Anguera i ...

(Argentina), 1955. *(contributor), ''D. H. Lawrence:A Composite Biography'', edited by Edward H. Nehls, three volumes, University of Wisconsin Press, 1957-1959. *(editor, as Idella Purnell Stone) ''Fourteen Great Tales of ESP'', Gold Medal Books, 1969. *(editor, as Idella Purnell Stone) ''Never In This World: 12 Famous Science-Fiction Writers, in Rare and Whimsical Moods'', Fawcett, 1971. *''Thirty Mexican Menus in Spanish and English'', Ritchie, 1971.

References

External links

Idella Purnell Stone Papers at University of Texas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purnell, Idella 1901 births 1982 deaths Mexican women writers Mexican women children's writers Writers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Writers from Los Angeles University of California, Berkeley alumni American magazine editors Women magazine editors American magazine publishers (people) American Scientologists 20th-century American poets American children's writers American women journalists Mexican emigrants to the United States American women poets American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers