Josephine Lawrence

Josephine Platz

24 featured booksJosephine Platz

Josephine Lawrence was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of a doctor and a retiring mother. As a child, she spent considerable time with a Quaker aunt who spoke the plain language and saw to it that she attended First Day Sabbath regularly. When one of her articles for the school newspaper won a $5 prize, she "resolved then and there to become an author." When she was in her teens, her family moved to Hopewell, where her father took up farming. Although she had planned to attend college, she was unable to master high school math, and decided instead to become a writer. She wrote stories for children's magazines, and articles for a farm journal. In 1915, she became editor of the children's page of the Newark Sunday Call, and she also wrote many of the short pieces published on the page. In 1918, she began edited the household page as well. In 1917, she interviewed Edward Stratemeyer, author of numerous boys' books and head of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Her article, "The Newarker Whose Name Is Best Known," impressed Stratemeyer so much that he told her he would publish her work if she wanted to pursue writing children's fiction. In 1919, she ghostwrote Sunny Boy in the Country for the Stratemeyer Syndicate, as well as twelve of the thirteen further Sunny Boy books that followed, under the pdeudonym Ramy Allen White. She also wrote all seven of the Four Little Blossoms books under the pseudonym Mabel C. Hawley; all six of the Riddle Club books under the pseudonym Alice Dale Hardy; the first four Betty Gordon books under the pseudonym Alice B. Emerson, as well as books seven and nine a few years later; the first sixteen Honey Bunch books under the pseudonym Helen Louise Thorndyke. While working for the Syndicate, she also wrote her own children's stories. In 1921, she published the first books in her Brother and Sister series; in 1922, she began her Rosemary series; in 1923, she began her Elizabeth Ann series; in 1925, she began her Linda Lane series; and in 1927, she began her Two Little Fellows series. Despite her success with children's books, she was primarily interested in writing for adults. In 1932 she published her first adult novel, Head of the Family. Her second novel, Years Are So Long (1934), was very popular and was later made into a film called "Make Way for Tomorrow" (1937). Although her popularity waned after the early 1940s, she continued to turn out almost one book per year. In 1940, she married and moved to an apartment in Manhattan with her husband, although she continued to write for the Newark Sunday Call. When the Call folded in 1946, she moved to the Newark Sunday News, where she became book editor. When her husband died in 1963, she stayed in New York and continued working at the Newark Sunday News until her retirement in the 1970s.

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OL2003143A

Overview

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24 representative editions

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Display name
Josephine Lawrence
Personal name
Josephine Platz
Source identifier
OL2003143A

Featured books

Representative editions for works actually authored by this person.

Works in catalog

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Next door neighbors
Representative edition published 2007
Open Work
Rainbow Hill
Representative edition published 2007
Open Work
Rosemary
Representative edition published 2007
Open Work
Brother and Sister
Representative edition published 2007
Open Work
Four Little Blossoms Through the Holidays
Representative edition published 2005
Open Work
Under one roof
Representative edition published 1975
Open Work
Remember When We Had a Doorman?
Representative edition published 1971
Open Work
The Web of Time
Representative edition published 1953
Open Work
Double Wedding Ring
Representative edition published 1946
Open Work
Josephine Lawrence Stories for Girls
Representative edition published 1939
Open Work
If I Have Four Apples
Representative edition published 1935
Open Work
Honey Bunch: Her First Big Adventure
Representative edition published 1933
Open Work
Betty Gordon on No-Trail Island
Representative edition published 1931
Open Work
Honey Bunch: Her First Trip in an Airplane
Representative edition published 1931
Open Work
Glenna
Representative edition published 1929
Open Work
Perry and Polly's Pictures
Representative edition published 1928
Open Work
Kiddie Farmers
Representative edition published 1926
Open Work
Kiddies Frolics
Representative edition published 1926
Open Work
Kiddies in the Country
Representative edition published 1926
Open Work
Betty Gordon in Mexican Wilds
Representative edition published 1926
Open Work
Honey Bunch: Her First Little Garden
Representative edition published 1924
Open Work
Elizabeth Ann at Maple Spring
Representative edition published 1923
Open Work
Honey Bunch: Her First Visit to the City
Representative edition published 1923
Open Work
Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm
Representative edition published 1920
Open Work