Mary Cadogan (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Summersby; 30 May 1928 – 29 September 2014) was an English author. She wrote extensively on popular and

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, including biographies of the creator of William Brown from ''

Just William ''Just William'' is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for ...

'',

Billy Bunter William George Bunter is a fictional schoolboy created by Charles Hamilton using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, a fictional English public school in Kent, originally published in the boys' weekly ...

Biography

Mary Summersby was born on 30 May 1928, in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. She started working for the BBC before the Second World War and met many of the popular entertainers of the time, and later worked on Schools Programming. In 1958, she started working for the Indian philosopher

Krishnamurti ( ) is a South Indian name. It has several variants. Variants Some forms separate the name elements , e.g. . English language renditions generally follow corresponding variations of the name in regional Indian languages. The following is a non ...

and remained for nearly twenty years. Mary Cadogan's writing career started late but her first book ''You're a Brick, Angela!'' was an immediate success. Her articles on the history of children's fiction have appeared in a number of magazines. She wrote a notable biography of

Richmal Crompton Richmal Crompton Lamburn (15 November 1890 – 11 January 1969) was a popular English writer, best known for her ''Just William (book series), Just William'' series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books. L ...

, who wrote the ''Just William'' books. She first met her in the late 1940s, but reported that she was then too shy to ask any questions about her writings. She was editor of the ''Just William Society'' magazine for many years and also edited the Story Paper Collectors' Digest between 1987 and 2005. She was also a member of The London Old Boys' Book Club. Her books, including her collaborations with Patricia Craig, covered a wide spectrum of popular fiction. She was interviewed for

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is a British broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning Bri ...

's programme on the centenary of Billy Bunter that was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in February 2008. Cadogan died on 29 September 2014, aged 86.

Awards and honours

* Honorary Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University, 2009

Published books

*''You're a Brick, Angela! The Girls' Story from 1839-1975'' (with Patricia Craig) (1976) (updated and revised edition 1986) *''Women and Children First: The Fiction of Two World Wars'' (with Patricia Craig) 1978) *''Richmal Crompton: The Woman Behind William'' (1986) *''The Lady Investigates: Women Detectives and Spies in Fiction'' (with Patricia Craig) (1986) *''Frank Richards: The Chap Behind the Chums'' (1988) *''Chin Up, Chest Out, Jemima: A Celebration of the Schoolgirls' Story'' (1989) *''The William Companion'' (1991) *''Women with Wings: Female Flyers in Fact and Fiction'' (1992) *''And Then Their Hearts Stood Still: An Exuberant Look at Romantic Fiction Past and Present'' (1994) *''Just William Through the Ages'' (1994) *''Mary Carries on: Reflections on Some Favourite Girls' Stories'' (2008) She also wrote the chapter on girls' comics in the ''

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Courier (Dundee), The Courier'', ''Evening Telegraph (Dundee), The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Pos ...

Bumper Fun Book'' (1977)

References

External links

Interview with Mary Cadogan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadogan, Mary 1928 births 2014 deaths 20th-century English writers English journalists English women journalists English biographers English children's writers English women non-fiction writers English women children's writers English women biographers