HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ann Head (née Anne Wales Christensen) (1915 – 1968) was an American fiction writer whose work was regularly published in magazines including ''Redbook'', ''Cosmopolitan'', ''Good Housekeeping'', ''McCall's'', ''Ladies Home Journal'', and others during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. She wrote at least nine novels and two serial novels that were published in magazines, four of which were also published as books, and at least 50 published short stories. Her most famous work, '' Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones'', a novel about a teen pregnancy, was made into a TV movie and stayed in print for four decades. She was a mentor to novelist
Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books ''The Water Is Wide (book), The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides (no ...
after teaching him when he was a senior in high school.


Early life and education

Head was born on October 30, 1915, in
Beaufort, South Carolina Beaufort ( , different from that of Beaufort, North Carolina) is a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston, South Carolina ...
. Her father was
Niels Christensen Niels Anton Christensen (16 August 18655 October 1952) was a Danish-American inventor whose principal invention was the O-ring, the ubiquitous hydraulic seal. Early years Niels Anton Christensen was born on a farm in Tørring-Uldum Municipalit ...
Jr., who owned the
Beaufort Gazette ''The Beaufort Gazette'' is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company printed in Bluffton, South Carolina, in the United States. The paper's staff works out of The Island Packet, where it is also printed. History On ...
newspaper from 1903 to 1922 and served in the
South Carolina Senate The South Carolina State Senate is the upper house of the South Carolina General Assembly, the lower house being the South Carolina House of Representatives. It consists of 46 senators elected from single member districts for four-year terms at ...
from 1905 to 1925, and her mother was Katherine (Nancy) Wales Stratton Christensen, from
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. Head grew up in Beaufort and attended the school founded by her paternal grandmother, Abbie Holmes Christensen, an abolitionist who moved from Boston to Beaufort and started the Port Royal Agricultural School, known locally as the Shanklin School, to educate freed slaves after the Union army occupied Beaufort early in the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. Her grandfather, Niels Christensen, was a Union soldier in the Civil War and served as superintendent of the
Beaufort National Cemetery Beaufort National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina. Managed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of 2024, had over 28,725 interments. History The original inter ...
from 1870 to 1876. Head had three siblings — a younger sister, Andrea (Andy) Christensen Rawson, who became a published poet in her later years; a younger brother,
Stratton Christensen Stratton may refer to: People * Stratton (surname) Places Australia * Stratton, Western Australia Canada * Stratton, Ontario England * Stratton, Cornwall * Stratton, Dorset * Stratton, Gloucestershire * Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset * Str ...
,[6
/nowiki>">">[6
/nowiki> was the youngest man ever elected to the South Carolina legislature before he was lost at sea while serving as a Navy ensign in June 1942; and an older brother, Niels Christensen III. In her adolescence, she was sent to Boston to live with her maternal grandparents Solomon Piper Stratton and Annie Wales Stratton and to attend The Cambridge School of Weston">The Cambridge School, though she spent her summers and vacations in Beaufort with her family. Head was a writer from an early age, and completed her first book at age 8. After graduating from high school, she attended Antioch College, Ohio, and studied social work, as part of which she had work experience in an orphanage, a hospital and a reformatory. She was already working as a freelance writer when she met her first husband, engineer and inventor
Howard Head Howard Head (July 31, 1914, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – March 3, 1991) was an American aeronautical engineer who is credited with the invention of the first commercially successful aluminum laminate skis and the oversized tennis racket. He ...
, in December 1938. They married on February 26, 1939, and had a daughter. Head divorced her husband in 1944, and later married physician Stanley F. Morse, with whom she had a second daughter.


Career

Head sold her first piece of fiction to ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'' when she was 28. After her first marriage ended, she continued to write to support herself and her daughter. In 1946, ''Cosmopolitan'' used Head's name in their advertisements promoting the magazine to women readers as "filled with the world's greatest emotional writing", saying, "she he readeris newly aware of the wonder and beauty of living, thanks to a beautifully told story by Ann Head"; "Ann Head's new story in Cosmopolitan Magazine has stirred her impressionable mind." Head wrote short stories, novelettes, and serials with "charm and gaiety" for magazines such as the ''
Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
,
Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
,
Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century ...
,
Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...
,
McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, 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. The publication ...
,'' and ''
Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American lifestyle media brand that covers a wide range of topics from home decor and renovation, health, beauty and food, to entertainment, pets and gifts. The Good Housekeeping Institute which opened its "Experiment ...
''. Her goal was to write one story a month in hopes of selling at least three per year. When the fiction magazine market dried up in the late 1950s she turned to writing books and had four novels published. Her books were published in hard cover and then paperback in many countries.
McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...
, the publishers of her first novel, ''Fair with Rain'' (1957), promoted it by sending to book review editors an engraved invitation to the wedding of Angela to David Blair, followed by a handwritten postcard informing them that the wedding was off, and finally, a copy of the novel with a covering letter from a McGraw-Hill representative. The novel is written in the first person, from the point of view of Janet Blair, a mother of four children, the oldest of whom (David) is away at college, and writes to say he is bringing a girl (Angela) home. One reviewer, comparing Head to
Betty MacDonald Betty MacDonald (born Anne Elizabeth Campbell Bard; March 26, 1907 – February 7, 1958) was an American author who specialized in humorous autobiographical tales, and is best known for her book ''The Egg and I''. She also wrote the '' Mrs. Piggl ...
, described it as "a book full of sharp humor, very well assembled", although he thought that Head wrote with "a rambling style". Other reviewers said the book "maintains a light, swift pace ... breezily omitting all dull details"; "Ann Head's humor is ingratiating, and she writes of family life with a whimsicality that never descends to ickiness"; "recommended when you feel like meeting a pleasant and shrewdly observed family". Although ''Fair with Rain'' received positive reviews, one reviewer felt that Head's second novel, ''Always in August'' (
Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...
, 1961), was a "vast improvement". Set on a plantation in South Carolina, it is told retrospectively in the first person by the main character, Lucy. Reviewers described it as "a tense romance" with "a good bit of drama .. and several hankies-ful of tears"; "primarily a romance but with a nicely sustained quality of suspense throughout." It received a largely positive response, although one critic said it had "a prosaic plot, written in a stilted style." Other reviewers found some faults: one reviewer considered the heroine "an apologetic door-mat holoses admiration if not sympathy by her whimpering", while another thought the villain, Gloria, was unconvincing, saying, "there just doesn't seem to be that much substance there." It was recommended to those who "enjoy entertainment mildly flavoured with tragedy", and its author was described as "skilled in descriptive ability and in setting atmospheres", who "writes of he Southwith [] love and understanding." ''Everyone Adored Cara'' (Doubleday, 1963) '' Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones'' ( Putnam, 1967) became her best-known work and was made into a movie for television in 1971. It was first published as an adult novel, and shortly afterwards marketed towards adolescents. In the early 1970s, ''Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones'' was included in the curricula and libraries of some schools, and was popular as an ' "adolescent novel" ... dealing with adolescent problems.' There were some calls to remove it from schools due to its subject matter. It was republished by
Signet Books The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publis ...
and was in print until recently.   Head taught a creative writing class at
Beaufort High School Beaufort High School is a public high school within the Beaufort County School District, located in Beaufort, South Carolina, United States, on Lady's Island. The school serves students in downtown areas of Beaufort and Port Royal in addition t ...
, where she mentored a student named
Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books ''The Water Is Wide (book), The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides (no ...
, who later became a famous novelist. The two spent much time together, and Conroy's autobiography included a chapter about Ann titled "Cookbook (My First Novelist)", noting, “Every time I sell a book, I put a rose on her grave.”


Death

Head died suddenly May 7, 1968, after a cerebral aneurysm at age 52. She was buried the next day at the Parish Church of St. Helena in Beaufort.


Legacy

Ann Head postumously inducted into the South Carolina Literary Hall of Fam
32
''Ann Head Literary Prize for Short Story Fiction In 2019, Ann Head's oldest daughter, Nancy Head Thode, established the Ann Head Literary Prize for Short Story Fiction at Beaufort High School. The prize is intended to encourage young writers much as Ann Head did in her original creative writing class. The prize provides a cash award as well as recognition of the young author at the annual Pat Conroy Literary Festival.In 2019,'' AHEAD OF HER TIME The Trailblazing Life and Literary Legacy of An

by Nancy Thode A blue blood and a bohemian, author Ann Head was an essential voice of mid-century fiction, known for challenging societal norms and amplifying women’s struggles in an era that often silenced them. Now, for the first time, her mysterious personal life is unveiled through the lens of her eldest daughter, Nancy Thode. Through meticulous archival work and transcriptions of Head’s journals, Thode offers an intimate portrait of a writer whose life and fiction were deeply intertwined — one who influenced a generation of writers, including her student, the acclaimed Pat Conroy, who noted in his autobiography that "every time I sell a book, I put a rose on her grave

'' More than just a biography, this book is a celebration of Ann Head’s enduring legacy. Featuring a selection of her published stories, it invites readers to experience her boundary-pushing prose firsthand. It also includes never-before-seen letters from a young Pat Conroy, whose early poems and admiration for Head reveal her lasting impact on one of the South’s most celebrated literary voices. Perfect for longtime fans and new readers alike, this book is essential reading for anyone drawn to revolutionary women, literary history, and the inescapable connection between life and art.


Published works


Novels (Books)

* ''Fair With Rain'' (McGraw-Hill, 1957) * ''Always In August'' (Doubleday, 1961) * ''Everybody Adored Cara'' (Doubleday, 1963) * ''Mr. And Mrs. Bo Jo Jones'' (Putnam, 1967)


Novels (Published in magazines)

* "Farewell to Innocence" (''Redbook'', September 1951) * "All Through the Night" (''McCall's'', September 1953) * "A Little World All Her Own" (''McCall's'', November 1954) * "What Do They See in Each Other?' (''Companion'', December 1956) * "David’s New Girl (Fair With Rain)" (''Ladies Home Journal'', April 1957) * "I Am Watching You" (''McCall's'', November 1957) * "Always In August" (''McCall's'', August 1961) * "Everybody Adored Cara" (''Redbook'', April 1963) * "Mr. And Mrs. Bo Jo Jones" (''Good Housekeeping'', October 1966)


Novellas

* "The Lost and The Found" (''Good Housekeeping'', April 1960)


Short stories

* "Carrot Top" (''Cosmopolitan'', January 1945)Carrot Top at Faded Page
/ref> * "The Impossible Journey" (''Cosmopolitan'', February 1945) * "The Lady and the Guy" (''McCall's'', July 1945) * "The Captain’s Wife" (''McCall's'', September 1945) * "The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring" (''Cosmopolitan'', November 1945) * "Only To Return" (''McCall's'', November 1945) * "Out of Order" (''Cosmopolitan'', March 1946) * "Found: A Woman" (''Good Housekeeping'', July 1947) * "New Memory" (''W.H. Companion'', May 1948) * "This Stranger, His Wife" (''McCall's'', February 1950) * "Answer to Three Prayers" (''McCall's'', November 1950) * "The Inner Circle" (''McCall's'', February 1951) * "The Honeymoon Must Wait" (''McCall's'', January 1953) * "Widow’s Mite" (''Cosmopolitan'', January 1953) * "Only Once a Bride" (''McCall's'', June 1953) * "John Says" (''Redbook'', January 1954) * "And No One Answered" (''McCall's'', July 1955) * "Since You Went Away" (''Britannia and Eve'', September 1955) * "Let the Bell Ring" (''McCall's'', January 1959) * "Portrait of Elizabeth" (''Good Housekeeping'', October 1959) * "The End of Innocence (Lie)" (''Good Housekeeping'', October 1967)


Serials

* "The Cynthia Legend" " (''McCall's'', Part I, September 1952; Part II, October 1952) * "House of Terror" (''Saturday Evening Post'', Part 1, Jan 16, 1954; Part 2, Jan 23, 1954; Part 3, Jan 30, 1954)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Head, Ann 1915 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers American women novelists American women short story writers Deaths from intracranial aneurysm Novelists from South Carolina People from Beaufort, South Carolina