Mary Jane Carr (April 23, 1895 – January 4, 1988) was an American author. Carr wrote her first poem at the age of eight. While at high school, she relied on her writing to pay her way through school. She had a contract with

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

. Other than poems and stories, she also published plays for children. She made a career in journalism, spending several years editing the newspapers for

Catholic Sentinel The ''Catholic Sentinel'' was the Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland. Reportedly the oldest Catholic newspaper on the West Coast, it was published by Oregon Catholic Press, which also published ''El Centinela'', a Spanish-language ...

. Her first book, ''Children of the Covered Wagon'', was published in 1934. This novel would be filmed under the title ''

Westward Ho the Wagons! ''Westward Ho the Wagons!'' is a 1956 American Western film starring Fess Parker and Kathleen Crowley and produced by Walt Disney Productions. Based on Mary Jane Carr's novel ''Children of the Covered Wagon'', the film was produced by Bill Wal ...

'' (1956), through

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. ''Young Mac of Fort Vancouver'' and ''Peggy and Paul and Laddy'' also contributed to her fame. Review of ''Children of the Covered Wagon'' by Mary Jane Carr
. ''Washington Historical Quarterly'' Vol. 25, No. 4 (Oct., 1934), p. 306. Carr's poem "Pirate Wind" was adapted as

The Autumn Wind "The Autumn Wind" is a sports-themed poem adapted from Mary Jane Carr's "Pirate Wind" by former NFL Films President and co-founder Steve Sabol (son of founder Ed Sabol) describing the atmosphere of autumn weather, as it relates to pro football s ...

NFL Films NFL Productions, LLC, doing business as NFL Films, is the film and television production company of the National Football League. It produces commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries for and about the NFL, as well as ot ...

founder

Steve Sabol Stephen Douglas Sabol (October 2, 1942September 18, 2012) was an American filmmaker. He was the president and one of the founders of NFL Films, along with his father Ed. He was also a widely exhibited visual artist. Sabol was born in Mooresto ...

for a film about the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Biography

Mary Jane Carr was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. She knew she wanted to be a writer around the time she began reading. Carr was one of nine siblings. Her father was an attorney that taught in his younger days. He used to read to her and her siblings on winter evenings. The poems her father read to her made her enjoy the rhythm and music in poetry. After her father died, she found a poem she was struggling to write as a child. In the mix of his papers, it brought back memories she and her father shared. Carr attended an all girls school that was known as St Mary's College. It is now known as

Marylhurst University Marylhurst University was a private applied liberal arts and business university in Marylhurst, Oregon. It was among the oldest collegiate degree-granting institutions in Oregon, having awarded its first degree in 1897. Marylhurst was founded as ...

where she began working towards journalism. She also began proofreading and editorial writing. Her first position in the newspaper was giving to her by her college history professor. Carr's first book was published in 1934. She has three books that were published and transcribed into Braille in many schools. Mary Jane Carr died on January 4, 1988, at the age of 92 in her hometown of Portland.

Works list

*''Children Of The Covered Wagon'' * Young Mac of Fort Vancouver *''Peggy and Paul and Laddy''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Mary American children's writers American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers Writers from Portland, Oregon 1890s births 1988 deaths