Lucy Herndon Crockett (April 4, 1914 – July 30, 2002) was an American novelist and artist who illustrated her own books.

Biography

She was born in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, the daughter of Nell Botts (Johnson) Crockett and Col. Cary Ingram Crockett.

William Lewis Herndon Commander William Lewis Herndon (25 October 1813 – 12 September 1857) was one of the United States Navy's outstanding explorers and seamen. In 1851 he led a United States expedition to the Valley of the Amazon, and prepared a report published ...

, a commander in the U.S. Navy, was her great-uncle. She grew up on military posts and was educated at a number of different schools. She lived in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

while her father was serving as an advisor to Governor-General

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Theodore Roosevelt III ( ), often known as Theodore Jr.Morris, Edmund (1979). ''The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt''. index.While it was President Theodore Roosevelt who was legally named Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the President's fame made it simple ...

, an experience that fed into two of her earliest two books, ''Lucio and His Nuong'' (1939) and ''That Mario'' (1941). She served in

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 ...

with the Red Cross, spending five years in New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, the Philippines, Japan, and Korea. Of the nine books she wrote and illustrated, several reflect her life during and after the war. ''The Magnificent Bastards'' (1953), her best-known book, was about her experiences with the U.S. Marine Corps, while ''Popcorn on the Ginza'' (1949) was about her time in occupied Japan. ''The Magnificent Bastards'' was made into a 1956 film starring

William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...

and

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...

under the title ''

The Proud and Profane ''The Proud and Profane'' is a dramatic war romance made by William Perlberg-George Seaton Productions for Paramount Pictures released in theaters on June 13, 1956. It was directed by George Seaton and produced by William Perlberg, from a screenpl ...

''. Interviewers of Crockett stated that she was "mild-looking" and seemed, "too gentle for the ugliness she described" in her books. After the war, she lived in

Smyth County, Virginia Smyth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,800. Its county seat is Marion. History Smyth County was formed on February 23, 1832, from Washington and Wythe counties. The county i ...

, where she ran a gift shop. As she got older, she became somewhat paranoid and was placed under house arrest for "threatening behavior" toward

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. Her papers are held by

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. In 2015, the William King Museum of Art mounted an exhibition about her life, ''The Proud and the Profane: The Colorful Life, Literature, and Illustrations of Lucy Herndon Crockett''.

Books

*''Lucio and His Nuong: A Tale of the Philippine Islands'' (1939) *''Capitan: The Story of an Army Mule'' (1940) *''The Mario'' (1941) *''Uncle Bouqui of Haiti'' (1942) *''Popcorn on the Ginza: An Informal Portrait of Postwar Japan'' (1949) *''Teru: A Tale of Yokohama'' (1950) *''The Magnificent Bastards'' (1953) *''The Year Something Almost Happened in Pinoso'' (1960) *''Pong Choolie You Rascal!'' (1963)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crockett, Lucy Herndon 1914 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American novelists Writers from Honolulu Novelists from Hawaii Writers from Virginia People from Smyth County, Virginia American expatriates in the Philippines