Mary Calhoun

Mary Louise Huiskamp Calhoun Wilkins (3 August 1926 - 27 October 2015), known professionally as Mary Calhoun, was an American author of children's and young adult books. She wrote more than 50 titles, including the Katie John series, Julie's Tree, High-Wire Henry, and Cross-Country Cat."Mary Huiskamp Wilkins." Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Gale, 2007. Gale Literature Resource Center. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026. Biography Early life and education

Calhoun was born on 3 August 1926 to William Clark and Louisa Belle (Waples) Huiskamp in Keokuk, Iowa, which lies at the confluence of the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers. Several of Calhoun's books are set in the region and feature a large brick house on Blondeau Street that was built by her great-grandfather. O'Connor, Julie Fallon. (August-October 2018). The Old House. Keokuk Confluence, Vol. XII, No. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2026. https://mainstreetkeokuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/Confluence/August2018.pdf At the age of seven, Calhoun decided she wanted to be a writer. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Iowa where she received a BA in journalism in 1948.

Upon graduation, Calhoun took a job at the Omaha World-Herald in Nebraska. Later that year, she moved to Oregon and took a position at the Gresham Outlook where she served as a society editor until 1949.

Marriage and children While working on the Omaha World Herald, Calhoun met her first husband, fellow journalist James Franklin Calhoun. They married on 2 September 1948 in Portland, Oregon."Oregon, County Marriages, 1851-1975", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSG6-Z96Z : Wed Apr 23 22:24:30 UTC 2025), Entry for James F Calhoun and Mary Louise Huiskamp, 2 Sep. After their marriage, Mary Calhoun became a homemaker, and the couple had two sons: Michael and Gregory. On 12 August 1961, Frank died of a heart attack. Calhoun married her second husband, Leon Ray Wilkins, on 8 November 1962. Wilkins was a high school friend and an Episcopalian priest. They remained married until Wilkins's death on 23 February 2015. Career Calhoun’s storytelling started as a way to entertain her two sons. Later, she began writing the stories down and submitting them to children's magazines. Her first book, Making the Mississippi Shout, was published in 1957. Others followed, and by the 1960s, her titles were appearing in lists of notable children's books."One Hundred Outstanding Books for the Younger Reader: A List." New York Times (12 November 1961), pp. 4.Burke, Kathleen. "Smithsonian's Notable Books for Children, 1996." Smithsonian, vol. 27, no. 8, Nov., 1996, p. 160. She continued writing and publishing for the next several decades. Her final book, Henry the Christmas Cat, appeared in 2004. The Mississippi River and the American Midwest provide settings for several of her historical and contemporary works, while European folk traditions inform stories involving witches, elves, dwarfs, brownies, and other supernatural figures. Calhoun also stated that strong emotion was an important element in her writing and identified “a strong emotion and a desire to tell the story to certain children” as important aspects of writing for young readers.

Critical reception

Contemporary reviews discussed Calhoun's characterizations, humor, and treatment of family relationships. Reviewing Katie John for The New York Times Book Review in 1960, Miriam James commented on the characterization of its protagonist.James, Miriam. Review of Katie John. New York Times Book Review, April 3, 1960, p. 40 In a 1961 review of Depend on Katie John, Virginia Haviland of The Horn Book discussed the book's varied characters, humor, and depiction of family life.Haviland, Virginia. (June, 1961). Review of Depend on Katie John. Horn Book, p. 264. Reviews of Calhoun's other books appeared consistently over the years in several publications, such as Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and School Library Journal.

Death and legacy Mary Calhoun died on 27 October 2015 in Boulder, Colorado, at the age of 89. Collections of her papers can be found at the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Iowa Libraries, and in the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities.Mary Calhoun Papers. (1957-2001). Kerlan Collection, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Collection Identifier: CLRC-707. https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/4/search?op%5B%5D=&q%5B%5D=calhoun%2C+mary

Published works Title Date published Illustrator Original publisher Making the Mississippi Shout 1957 Paul Galdone William Morrow The Sweet Patootie Doll 1957 Roger Duvoisin William Morrow The River-Minded Boy 1958 William R. Lohse William Morrow Wobble, the Witch Cat 1958 Roger Duvoisin William Morrow Houn' Dog 1959 Roger Duvoisin William Morrow Katie John 1960 Paul Frame Harper & Row Cowboy Cal and the Outlaw 1961 Frank Nicholas William Morrow Depend on Katie John 1961 Paul Frame Harper & Row The Nine Lives of Homer C. Cat 1961 Roger Duvoisin William Morrow The Hungry Leprechaun 1962 Roger Duvoisin William Morrow Honestly, Katie John! 1963 Paul Frame Harper & Row The Witch of Hissing Hill 1964 Janet McCaffery William Morrow High Wind for Kansas 1965 W. T. Mars William Morrow The House of Thirty Cats 1965 Mary Chalmers William Morrow The Runaway Brownie 1967 Janet McCaffery William Morrow The Thieving Dwarfs 1967 Janet McCaffery William Morrow The Goblin Under the Stairs 1968 Janet McCaffery William Morrow The Last Two Elves in Denmark 1968 Janet McCaffery William Morrow The Pixy and the Lazy Housewife 1969 Janet McCaffery William Morrow The Traveling Ball of String 1969 Janet McCaffery William Morrow Magic in the Alley 1970 Janet McCaffery Atheneum Mermaid of Storms 1970 Janet McCaffery William Morrow White Witch of Kynance 1970 John Gundelfinger Harper & Row Camels Are Meaner Than Mules 1971 Herman B. Vestal Garrard Publishing Daisy, Tell Me! 1971 Janet McCaffery William Morrow It's Getting Beautiful Now 1971 — Harper & Row The Flower Mother 1972 Janet McCaffery William Morrow Mrs. Dog's Own House 1972 Janet McCaffery William Morrow Three Kinds of Stubborn 1972 Edward Malsberg Garrard Publishing The Battle of Reuben Robin & Kite Uncle John 1973 Janet McCaffery William Morrow The Horse Comes First 1974 John Gretzer Atheneum Old Man Whickutt's Donkey 1975 Tomie dePaola Parents' Magazine Press Ownself 1975 — Harper & Row Euphonia and the Flood 1976 Simms Taaback Parents' Magazine Press Medicine Show: Conning People and Making Them Like It 1976 — Harper & Row The Witch's Pig: A Cornish Folktale 1977 Lady McCrady William Morrow Jack the Wise and the Cornish Cuckoos 1978 Lady McCrady William Morrow Cross-Country Cat 1979 Erick Ingraham William Morrow The Witch Who Lost Her Shadow 1979 Trinka Hakes Noble Harper & Row Katie John and Heathcliff 1980 — Harper & Row Audubon Cat 1981 Susan Bonners William Morrow Hot-Air Henry 1981 Erick Ingraham William Morrow The Night the Monster Came 1982 Leslie H. Morrill William Morrow Big Sixteen 1983 Trina Schart Hyman William Morrow Jack and the Whoopee Wind 1987 Dick Gackenbach William Morrow Julie's Tree 1988 — Harper & Row High-Wire Henry 1991 Erick Ingraham Morrow Junior Books While I Sleep 1992 Ed Young Morrow Junior Books Henry the Sailor Cat 1994 Erick Ingraham Morrow Junior Books Tonio's Cat 1996 Edward Martinez Morrow Junior Books Flood! 1997 Erick Ingraham Morrow Junior Books Blue-Ribbon Henry 1998 Erick Ingraham Morrow Junior Books A Shepherd's Gift 2001 Raúl Colón HarperCollins Henry the Christmas Cat 2004 Erick Ingraham HarperCollins Published under the name Mary Huiskamp Calhoun Wilkins

John M. Huiskamp, Artist, Pine Ridge Press (1997)

Recognition 1979 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Honor Book for Cross-Country Cat 1980 Golden Kite Honor Book citation, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for Cross-Country Cat 1981 Colorado Children's Book Award for Cross-Country Cat 1982 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award for Cross-Country Cat 1991 School Library Journal Best Books citation for High-Wire HenryGerhardt, Lillian Noreen, et al. (December 1991). “Best Books 1991.” School Library Journal, vol. 37, pp. 28–35. 1994 California Young Readers Medal for High-Wire Henry

References

Mary Calhoun

Bron en licentie