Margaret Larkin (July 7, 1899 – May 7, 1967) was an American writer, poet, singer-songwriter, researcher, journalist and union activist.
She wrote ''The Hand of Mordechai'' on a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and its stand against the Egyptian Army in 1948, ''Seven Shares in a Gold Mine'' about a murder conspiracy in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, and the ''Singing Cowboy'', a collection of Western folk songs. She won awards for her poem ''Goodbye—To My Mother'' and her play ''El Cristo''.
Life
Larkin was born on July 7, 1899 in
Las Vegas, New Mexico
Las Vegas is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas—West Las Vegas ("Old Town") and East Las Vegas ("New Town" ...
to parents from English and Scottish descent.
[ She studied at the ]University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
.["Margaret Larkin, writer, 67, dead"](_blank)
''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 ...
'' May 11, 1967. In 1922 she won the Poetry Prize of the Kansas Author Club.
After moving to the East Coast, she married Liston Oak and became a trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
activist. In 1926 she wrote the titles of the silent film '' The Passaic Textile Strike''. In the thirties she was active as a singer/songwriter and composer of folk songs
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
.
After divorcing her first husband she met writer Albert Maltz
Albert Maltz (; October 28, 1908 – April 26, 1985) was an American playwright, fiction writer and screenwriter. He was one of the Hollywood Ten who were jailed in 1950 for their 1947 refusal to testify before the US Congress about their invol ...
in 1935. Maltz was 9 years younger. They married in 1937. Maltz was blacklisted as one of the Hollywood Ten
The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...
due to his refusal to tell the House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
whether he was a member of the American Communist Party
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...
.
Larkin, her husband, their son Peter and daughter Katherine moved to Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
in 1951.[ In 1964 they were officially divorced, after Maltz had already returned to the United States.][
Larkin assisted anthropologist ]Oscar Lewis
Oscar Lewis, born Lefkowitz (December 25, 1914 – December 16, 1970) was an American anthropologist. He is best known for his vivid depictions of the lives of slum dwellers and his argument that a cross-generational culture of poverty transcen ...
in the research and writing of '' La vida: a Puerto Rican family in the culture of poverty--San Juan and New York'' (1966). Her last book was ''The Hand of Mordechai'', on kibbutz Yad Mordechai
Yad Mordechai ( he, יַד מָרְדְּכַי, ''lit.'' Memorial of Mordechai) is a kibbutz in Southern Israel. Located 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a popula ...
around the 1947–1949 Palestine war
The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...
. It was published in Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
(1966), Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
(1967), English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
(1968), German (1970), and Russian (197?). The Israeli edition was published by Ma'arachot, the official publishing house of the Israeli Defense Forces
Israeli may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel
* Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel
* Modern Hebrew, a language
* ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008
* Guni Israeli ...
, with a preface by General Haim Laskov
Haim Laskov ( he, חיים לסקוב; born 1919, Barysaw, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic – 8 December 1982) was an Israeli public figure and the fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.
Biography
Haim Laskov was born in Bary ...
. Larkin was represented by the 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 ...
.
Margareth Larkin died in Mexico City on May 7
Events Pre-1600
* 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
* 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I imm ...
, 1967, aged 67. Her son Peter also died in Mexico City. Her sole granddaughter, Gabriela Maltz Larkin, is an actress and production manager, more recently as Mira Larkin.
Bibliography
Books
* 1926
El Cristo, a drama in one act
* 1931
''Singing Cowboy, a book of western songs''
* 1958
''Seven Shares in a Gold Mine''
* 1966
''The Hand of Mordechai''
(a.k.a. The Six Days of Yad Mordechai
Yad Mordechai ( he, יַד מָרְדְּכַי, ''lit.'' Memorial of Mordechai) is a kibbutz in Southern Israel. Located 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a popula ...
)
Poetry
* 1922 - "Goodbye—To My Mother" in The Poets of the Future, A College Anthology for 1921-1922: 156
* 1924 - "Four Poems", ''The Midlands'' 10: 385.
Articles
* 1927-03 - "A Poet for the People: A Review" (of Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
: Fine Clothes to the Jew), ''Opportunity'' 3: 84-85.
* 1929-10-09 -
Ella May's Songs
. ''The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'' 129 (3353): 382-383.
* 1933-02 - "Revolutionary music", ''New Masses'': 27.
* 1934-09-05 -
Beale Street: Where the Blues Began (Book review)
. ''The Nation'' 139 (3609): 279.
* 1966-11-14 - "As Many as God Sends? Family Planning in Mexico", ''The Nation'' 203 (16): 508-511.
Filmography
* 1926 - The Passaic Textile Strike - title writer
Awards
* 1922 - Best Poem submitted to the Kansas Authors' Club for ''Goodbye—To My Mother''
* 1926 - David Belasco Cup for ''El Cristo''
* 1926 - Samuel French Prize for ''El Cristo''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Margaret
1899 births
1967 deaths
American women trade unionists
American expatriates in Mexico
American people of English descent
American people of Scottish descent
American singer-songwriters
University of Kansas alumni
Writers from New Mexico
American women poets
American women dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American singers
People from Las Vegas, New Mexico
Trade unionists from New Mexico
American folk-song collectors