Marion "Marni" Hodgkin, Lady Hodgkin (28 November 1917 – 11 March 2015) was an American children's book editor. She was regarded as one of the notable and influential children's book editors of the 1960s. She was the daughter of

Francis Peyton Rous Francis Peyton Rous (; October 5, 1879 – February 16, 1970) was an American pathologist at the Rockefeller University known for his works in oncoviruses, blood transfusion and physiology of digestion. A medical graduate from the Johns Hopkin ...

and wife of Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, both

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winners.

Early life

Born Marion Rous in New York City, she was the eldest of three daughters of the American pathologist

, winner of the 1966 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and his wife, Marion de Kay. She studied at the

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

in New York City, and

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

in Pennsylvania.

Career

Hodgkin's career as a children's book editor started in New York, working for

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

. She then worked for

Rupert Hart-Davis Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (28 August 1907 – 8 December 1999) was an English publisher and editor. He founded the publishing company Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd. As a biographer, he is remembered for his ''Hugh Walpole'' (1952), as an editor, ...

in London. Hodgkin became Children's Book Editor at Macmillan Publishing Company, which she joined in 1966. Until her arrival, Macmillan had never had a children's literature department, even though its authors included

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

and

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

. Picture books that she edited included

Kevin Crossley-Holland Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (born 7 February 1941) is an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work is probably the #Arthur trilogy, Arthur trilogy (2000–2003), for which he won the Guardian Children's Fiction ...

's ''The Green Children'' (1969) and Graham Oakley's ''Church Mouse'' series. She rejected

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

's work twice. She retired from Macmillan in 1978 when her husband was named master of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. She was a successful writer of children's literature in her own right, including ''Young Winter's Tales'', ''Student Body'' (1950), and ''Dead Indeed'' (1955). The last two were detective stories, based on her time at Swarthmore College and Viking Press, respectively.

Personal

She married Alan Lloyd Hodgkin in 1944; they had met while he was working at the Rockefeller Institute in 1938. They had three daughters and one son.

Jonathan Hodgkin Jonathan Alan Hodgkin (born 1949) is a British biochemist. He is the Professor of Genetics at the University of Oxford and an emeritus fellow of Keble College, Oxford. Education Hodgkin was educated at the University of Oxford where he graduat ...

became a molecular biologist at Cambridge University. Deborah Hodgkin is a psychologist. Her husband, Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, won the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1963. She died on 11 March 2015 at the age of 97 in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgkin, Marni 1917 births 2015 deaths Dalton School alumni Swarthmore College alumni Writers from New York City American book editors American emigrants to the United Kingdom