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Janet Miriam Caldwell (September 7, 1900August 30, 1985) was a British-born American novelist and prolific author of popular fiction under the pen names Taylor Caldwell, Marcus Holland and Max Reiner. She was also known by a variation of her married name, J. Miriam Reback. In her fiction, she often used real historical events or persons. Taylor Caldwell's best-known works include '' Dynasty of Death'', ''Dear and Glorious Physician'' (about
Saint Luke Luke the Evangelist ( Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of ...
), ''Ceremony of the Innocent'', ''Pillar of Iron'' (about
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
), ''The Earth is the Lord's'' (about
Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...
) and '' Captains and the Kings''. Her last major novel, ''Answer As a Man'', appeared in 1980.


Biography

Janet Miriam Caldwell was born in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, England, into a family of Scottish background. Her family descended from the
Scottish clan A Scottish clan (from Gaelic , literally 'children', more broadly 'kindred') is a kinship group among the Scottish people. Clans give a sense of shared identity and descent to members, and in modern times have an official structure recognise ...
of
MacGregor MacGregor or Macgregor may refer to: People * MacGregor (surname) * MacGregor (filmmaker), a Spanish commercial cinematographer and film director * Clan Gregor, a Scottish clan * Macgregor baronets, related individuals including a British Army ...
of which the Taylors are a subsidiary clan. At the age of six, she won a medal for an essay on
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
.MacDowell, Edwin. "Behind the Best Sellers; Taylor Caldwell", ''New York Times'', January 11, 1981
/ref> In 1907, she emigrated to the United States with her parents, Arthur Frank Caldwell and Annie ( Marks) Caldwell, and her younger brother. Her father died shortly after the move, and the family struggled. At the age of eight she started to write stories, and in fact wrote her first novel, '' The Romance of Atlantis'', at the age of twelve"Taylor Caldwell, prolific author, dies"
''New York Times'', September 2, 1985.
(although it remained unpublished until 1975). She continued to write prolifically, however, despite ill health. In 1918–19, she served in the
United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...
. In 1919, she married William F. Combs. In 1920, they had a daughter, Mary Margaret (known as "Peggy"). From 1923-24, Caldwell worked as a
court reporter A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certified transcript ...
in the New York State Department of Labor in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Southe ...
. In 1924, she went to work for the
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
, as a member of the Board of Special Inquiry (an immigration tribunal) in Buffalo. In 1931, she graduated from the
University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...
. She and Combs divorced in 1931. Caldwell then married her second husband, Marcus Reback, who worked for the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. She had a second child with Reback, a daughter Judith Ann, in 1932. The Rebacks were married for 40 years, until his death in 1971. In 1934, she began to work on the novel '' Dynasty of Death'', which she and Reback completed in collaboration. It was published in 1938 and became a best-seller. "Taylor Caldwell" was presumed to be a man, and there was some public stir when the author was revealed to be a woman. Over the next 43 years, she published 42 more novels, many of them best-sellers. For instance, ''This Side of Innocence'' was the biggest fiction seller of 1946, spending more than six months on the New York Times Fiction Best Seller list, including nine weeks at #1. (In 1947, according to ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'', her husband Marcus Reback discarded and burned the manuscripts of 140 unpublished novels.) Her published works sold an estimated 30 million copies. She became wealthy, traveling to Europe and elsewhere, although she still lived near Buffalo. Her books were big sellers right up to the end of her career. In 1979, she signed a two-novel deal for $3.9 million.Blagden, Nellie. "Silenced by a Stroke, Author Taylor Caldwell Becomes the Focus of a Bitter Family Feud"
People Magazine. Vol.14, No. 3, July 21, 1980.
During her career as a writer, she received several awards: * The National League of American Pen Women gold medal (1948) * The ''
Buffalo Evening News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
'' Award (1949) * The ''Grand Prix Chatvain'' (1950) She was an outspoken conservative and for a time wrote for the
John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas. ...
's monthly journal ''American Opinion'' and even associated with the antisemitic
Liberty Lobby Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial. The organization produced a daily five-min ...
. Her memoir, ''On Growing Up Tough'', appeared in 1971, consisting of many edited-down articles from ''American Opinion''. Around 1970, she became interested in
reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
. She had become friends with well-known occultist author
Jess Stearn Jess Stearn (April 26, 1914 – March 27, 2002) was an American journalist and author of more than thirty books, nine of which were bestsellers. Early life Stearn was born in Syracuse, New York to David Stearn, a rabbi. He graduated from Syracu ...
, who suggested that the vivid detail in her many historical novels was actually subconscious recollection of previous lives. She agreed to be hypnotized and undergo "
past life regression Past life regression is a method that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations. The practice is widely considered discredited and unscientific by medical practitioners, and experts generally r ...
" to disprove reincarnation. However, according to Stearn's book, ''The Search for a Soul – Taylor Caldwell's Psychic Lives'' (1973), Caldwell instead began to recall her own past lives – eleven in all, including one on the "lost" continent of Atlantis. In 1972, she married William Everett Stancell, a retired real estate developer, but divorced him in 1973. In 1978, she married William Robert Prestie, a Canadian 17 years her junior. This led to difficulties with her children. She had a long dispute with her daughter Judith over the estate of Judith's father. In 1979, Judith committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and sub ...
. Also in 1979, Caldwell suffered a
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop funct ...
, which left her unable to speak, though she could still write (she had been deaf since about 1965). Her daughter Peggy accused Prestie of abusing and exploiting Caldwell, and there was a legal battle over her substantial assets.


Death

Taylor Caldwell died of pulmonary failure, secondary to lung cancer, in
Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and othe ...
on August 30, 1985, aged 84. She had suffered a stroke in May 1980 that had left her paralyzed and speechless.


Writings

''Dynasty of Death'' was her first published work, a
family saga The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. In novels (or sometimes sequences of novels) with a serious intent, this is often ...
lasting from 1837 to World War I, about two families in western
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...
who rise to control a great armaments business. The story was continued in ''The Eagles Gather'' (1940) and ''The Final Hour'' (1944). As a writer Caldwell was praised for her intricately plotted and suspenseful stories, which depicted family tensions and the development of the U.S. from an agrarian society into the leading industrial state of the world. Caldwell's heroes are self-made men of pronounced ethnic background, such as the German immigrants in ''The Strong City'' (1942) and ''The Balance Wheel'' (1951). Her themes are ethnic, religious and personal intolerance (''The Wide House'', 1945), the failure of parental discipline (''Let Love Come Last'', 1949) and the conflict between the desire for power and money and the human values of love and sense of family (''Melissa'' (1948), ''A Prologue to Love'' (1962), and ''Bright Flows the River'' (1978). In her later works, Caldwell explored the American Dream and wrote stories of the "rags to riches" course of life. Among these was her last great best-seller, '' Captains and the Kings'' (1972), which chronicles the rise to wealth of a poor Irish immigrant to America in the 1800s. ''Captains and the Kings'' was made into a
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
mini-series in 1976. Another was her last novel, ''Answer As a Man'' (1980). In 1952, she wrote ''The Devil's Advocate'', set in a
dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493) ...
where North America has become a Communist dictatorship. She wrote many historical novels, including several about famous religious figures. ''Dear and Glorious Physician'' (1959) was about
Saint Luke Luke the Evangelist ( Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of ...
; ''Great Lion of God'' (1970) was about
Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
; and ''I, Judas'' (1977) was about
Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...
. In ''The Earth Is the Lord's'' (1941), she fictionalized
Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...
; in ''The Arm and the Darkness'' (1943),
Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...
; in ''A Pillar of Iron'' (1965), the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
senator and orator
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
; and in ''Glory and the Lightning'' (1974),
Aspasia Aspasia (; grc-gre, Ἀσπασία ; after 428 BC) was a ''metic'' woman in Classical Athens. Born in Miletus, she moved to Athens and began a relationship with the statesman Pericles, with whom she had a son, Pericles the Younger. Accord ...
, mistress of the
Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
leader
Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelop ...
. Caldwell addressed religious themes in several works. ''Answer As a Man'' begins with the church bells and ends with an evocation of renewed faith. ''Dialogues with the Devil'' (1967) is a correspondence between
Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...
and
Michael the Archangel Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
. Mixed into this dialogue are old tales, stories of a lost continent and of other worlds, and theological speculations.


Social philosophy

The nature of human beings never changes; it is immutable. The present generation of children and the present generation of young adults from the age of thirteen to eighteen is, therefore, no different from that of their great-great-grandparents. Political fads come and go; theories rise and fall; the scientific 'truth' of today becomes the discarded error of tomorrow. Man's ideas change, but not his inherent nature. That remains. So, if the children are monstrous today – even criminal – it is not because their natures have become polluted, but because they have not been taught better, nor disciplined. – On Growing Up Tough, chapter The Purple Lodge
In her 1957 social/political article "Honoria" she chronicles the rise and fall of the fictitious country she calls "Honoria". She ends the article with a very foreboding rebuke of society. "It is a stern fact of history that no nation that rushed to the abyss ever turned back. Not ever, in the long history of the world. We are now on the edge of the abyss. Can we, for the first time in history, turn back? It is up to you." Many of Caldwell's books centered on the idea that a small cabal of rich, powerful men secretly control the world.


Bibliography

*'' Dynasty of Death'' (1938) *''The Eagles Gather'' (1940) *''The Earth Is the Lord's: A Tale of the Rise of Genghis Khan'' (1940) *''Time No Longer'' (1941) *''The Strong City'' (1942) *''The Arm and the Darkness'' (1943) *''The Turnbulls'' (1943) *''The Final Hour'' (1944) *''The Wide House'' (1945) *''This Side of Innocence'' (1946) *''There Was a Time'' (1947) *''Melissa'' (1948) *''Let Love Come Last'' (1949) *''The Balance Wheel'' (1951) / UK title ''The Beautiful Is Vanished'' (1951) *''The Devil's Advocate'' (1952) *''Maggie – Her Marriage'' (1953) *''Never Victorious, Never Defeated'' (1954) *''Your Sins and Mine'' (1955) *''Tender Victory'' (1956) *''The Sound of Thunder'' (1957) *''Dear and Glorious Physician'' (1958) *''The Listener'' (1960) *''A Prologue to Love'' (1961) *''The Late Clara Beame'' (1963) *''Grandmother and the Priests'' (1963) / UK title ''To See the Glory'' (1963) *''A Pillar of Iron'' (1965) *''Wicked Angel'' (1965) *''No One Hears But Him'' (1966) *''Dialogues with the Devil'' (1967) *''Testimony of Two Men'' (1968) *''Great Lion of God'' (1970) *''On Growing Up Tough'' (1971) *'' Captains and the Kings'' (1972) *''To Look and Pass'' (1973) *''Glory and the Lightning'' (1974) *'' The Romance of Atlantis'' (1975) (with Jess Stearn) *''Ceremony of the Innocent'' (1976) *''I, Judas'' (1977) (with Jess Stearn) *''Bright Flows the River'' (1978) *''Answer as a Man'' (1980) *''Unto All Men'' (2012 – novella discovered by her grandchildren)


References


Sources

*


Further reading

* * *


External links


The Taylor Caldwell Appreciation Society* (new link – Facebook group) Taylor Caldwell website set up by Descendants of Taylor Caldwell LLCTaylor Caldwell's FBI file
''(*
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Taylor 1900 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American novelists American science fiction writers English emigrants to the United States Pseudonymous women writers American historical novelists Writers from Buffalo, New York John Birch Society members University at Buffalo alumni Writers from Manchester American women novelists English women novelists English science fiction writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers Women historical novelists English people of Scottish descent American conspiracy theorists Novelists from New York (state) English women non-fiction writers Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 20th-century pseudonymous writers Conservatism in the United States