Muriel Denison, née Jessie Muriel Goggin (1886–1954), was a Canadian writer. Born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, she was educated at

Havergal College Havergal College is an independent day and boarding school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was established in 1894 and named for Frances Ridley Havergal, a composer, author and humanitaria ...

Edgehill School Edgehill or Edghill may refer to: Places England * Edgehill, Warwickshire, a hamlet on the Edge Hill escarpment ** Battle of Edgehill or Edge Hill, a 1642 battle in the English Civil War * Edgehill, a suburb of Scarborough, North Yorkshire * Edgeh ...

, and the

Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

. In 1926 she married author and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Merrill Denison Merrill Denison (23 June 1893 — 13 June 1975) was a Canadian playwright.Mel Atkey. Broadway North: The Dream of a Canadian Musical Theatre'. Dundurn; 30 October 2006. . p. 45–. He created many dramas which were broadcast during the early days ...

. Denison is best known as the author of the "Susannah" novels, a series of books set in the years 1896–1900, and featuring Susannah Winston, age 9-13: ''

Susannah of the Mounties ''Susannah of the Mounties'' is a children's novel by Canadian author Muriel Denison, first published in 1936. In the book 9-year-old Susannah is sent to Regina, Saskatchewan to spend the summer with her uncle who is a Mountie. There are several ...

'', ''Susannah of the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

'', ''Susannah at Boarding School'', and ''Susannah Rides Again''. The first book was the inspiration for the

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

movie of the same name, though the two stories are very different. Denison often wrote nonfiction using the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"Frances Newton" for articles in ''This Week'', ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'', ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-for ...

'' and other magazines. Denison lived in New York for 20 years before her death, but returned to Toronto to go to hospital and died there.

References

*''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 23 September 1954.

External links

* 1886 births 1954 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women novelists The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Writers from Winnipeg Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers {{Canada-novelist-stub