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

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

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 ...

, she was educated at

Havergal College Havergal College is a private 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 humanitarian. The ...

, Edgehill School, 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 C ...

. In 1926 she married author and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

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 severa ...

'', ''Susannah of the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

'', ''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; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

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

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's 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 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 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 Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', 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 King's-Edgehill School alumni {{Canada-novelist-stub