Mary Cadogan (née Summersby) (30 May 1928 – 29 September 2014) was an English author. She wrote extensively on

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

and

children's fiction Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

including biographies of the creators of William Brown (''

Just William ''Just William'' is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for ...

'') and

Billy Bunter William George Bunter is a fictional schoolboy created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, a fictional English public school in Kent, originally published in the boys' weekly ...

Biography

Mary Summersby was born in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. She started working for the BBC before the Second World War and met many of the popular entertainers of the time, and later worked on Schools Programming. In 1958 she started working for the Indian philosopher

Krishnamurti is a South Indian name. It has several spelling variants. Variants The following is a non-exhaustive list. Some spellings separate the name elements , e.g. . Etymology and usage Derived from the Hindu deity Krishna and the Sanskrit term murt ...

and remained for nearly twenty years. Mary Cadogan's writing career started late but her first book ''You're a Brick, Angela!'' was an immediate success. Her articles on the history of children's fiction have appeared in a number of magazines. She wrote a notable biography of

Richmal Crompton Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her ''Just William'' series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. Life Richmal Crompton Lambu ...

, who wrote the ''Just William'' books. She first met her in the late 1940s, but reported that she was then too shy to ask any questions about her writings. She was editor of the ''Just William Society'' magazine for many years and also edited the Story Paper Collectors' Digest between 1987 and 2005. She was also a member o
The London Old Boys' Book Club
Her books, including her collaborations with Patricia Craig, covered a wide spectrum of popular fiction. She was interviewed for

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning ...

's programme on the centenary of Billy Bunter that was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

in February 2008. She had a 5 star carrot cake recipe on BBC good food, with over 1500 reviews. Cadogan died on 29 September 2014.

Awards and honours

* Honorary Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University, 2009

Published books

*''You're a Brick, Angela! The Girls' Story from 1839-1975'' (with Patricia Craig) (1976) (updated and revised edition 1986) *''Women and Children First: The Fiction of Two World Wars'' (with Patricia Craig) 1978) *''Richmal Crompton: The Woman Behind William'' (1986) *''The Lady Investigates: Women Detectives and Spies in Fiction'' (with Patricia Craig) (1986) *''Frank Richards: The Chap Behind the Chums'' (1988) *''Chin Up, Chest Out, Jemima: A Celebration of the Schoolgirls' Story'' (1989) *''The William Companion'' (1991) *''Women with Wings: Female Flyers in Fact and Fiction'' (1992) *''And Then Their Hearts Stood Still: An Exuberant Look at Romantic Fiction Past and Present'' (1994) *''Just William Through the Ages'' (1994) *''Mary Carries on: Reflections on Some Favourite Girls' Stories'' (2008) She also wrote the chapter on girls' comics in the ''

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', ''The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics ''Oor Wull ...

Bumper Fun Book'' (1977)

References

External links

Interview with Mary Cadogan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadogan, Mary 1928 births 2014 deaths English writers English journalists English biographers English children's writers English women non-fiction writers British women children's writers Women biographers