Mildred Jordan

Education

Northwestern University. Wellesley College.

Career

Her first novel, One Red Rose Forever, which was based on the history of Lancaster County, was rejected by twenty-two publishers before finally appearing in 1941. Her subsequent books often focused on the lives of Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants to America. Public reaction to Jordan"s work was mixed.

While a 1954 review of her play The Wonderful Cornelia referred to her as "one of the nation"s best-known novelists", John Updike expressed a more ambivalent view of her talents several years later, dismissing her in a sentence as "an unmeetably rich industrialist"s wife".

In addition to her own writing, Jordan also served as the editor of the Berkshire County Historical Magazine. She received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Albright College in 1979.

Jordan was represented by the literary agent Annie Laurie Williams, whose other clients included Margaret Mitchell, John Steinbeck, and Truman Capote.

Works

More photos

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  • The Distelfink Country of the Pennsylvania Dutch

    (Fascinating story of their customs and traditions, the hi...)

  • Apple in the Attic: A Pennsylvania Legend,

    (A delightful Pennsylvania Dutch folk tale.)

  • Proud to Be Amish

    (Juvenile fiction set in Pennsylvania.)

  • Miracle in Brittany

    (Dust jacket art by George Salter. The story of a Christma...)

  • Miracle in Brittany-signed By author

    (Fiction.)

  • One red rose forever,
  • The shoo-fly pie
  • The Distelfink Country of the Pennsylvania Dutch by Mildred Jordan (1978-08-01)