Background
Phyllis McGinley was born on March 21, 1905, in Ontario, Oregon. She was the daughter of Daniel McGinley, a rancher, and Julia Kiesel. In 1908 the family moved to Colorado.
(An amusing and delectable book which suceeds in rescuing ...)
An amusing and delectable book which suceeds in rescuing the saints from their piour niches to show to people of all faiths or none the personalities and deeds of these wondrous beings and how they are related to living today.
https://www.amazon.com/Saint-Watching-Phyllis-McGinley/dp/0670167754?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0670167754
(Originally published in 1950, this Caldecott Honor Book f...)
Originally published in 1950, this Caldecott Honor Book follows Dulcy as she describes to her father why her missing doll, Angela, was the most wonderful doll in the world. Reprint.
https://www.amazon.com/Most-Wonderful-Doll-World-Ribbon/dp/0590434772?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0590434772
(Lyric re-telling of 15 medieval legends of the First Chri...)
Lyric re-telling of 15 medieval legends of the First Christmas. Lovely B&W drawings.
https://www.amazon.com/Wreath-Christmas-Legends-Phyllis-McGinley/dp/B000AQH62O?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000AQH62O
(Vintage Childrens Illustrated Picture Book.)
Vintage Childrens Illustrated Picture Book.
https://www.amazon.com/Mince-Pie-Mistletoe-Phyllis-McGinley/dp/0397305745?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0397305745
(Third printing 1964. MacMillan. Name and bookplate inside...)
Third printing 1964. MacMillan. Name and bookplate inside front cover. Lightly bumped corners. Light stain on top right corner of first 8 pages otherwise clean. A few very light spots on front cover. Dust jacket has stain on right side of front and left side of back, price clipped, wear to all edges, small tears, chipping. Photo on request.
https://www.amazon.com/Sixpence-Her-Shoe-Phyllis-McGinley/dp/002583360X?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=002583360X
(Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Secker & Warburg (1961) P...)
Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Secker & Warburg (1961) Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Selected-Verses-Decades-Seventy-Poems/dp/B0000CL5TV?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0000CL5TV
Phyllis McGinley was born on March 21, 1905, in Ontario, Oregon. She was the daughter of Daniel McGinley, a rancher, and Julia Kiesel. In 1908 the family moved to Colorado.
In Colorado McGinley and her brother attended a rural school. After her father's death, her mother took the children to Ogden, Utah, where Phyllis attended Ogden High School and the Sacred Heart Academy. She went on to the University of Southern California, then completed her studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, graduating in 1927.
McGinley taught school, first in Ogden for a year and then at a New Rochelle, N. Y. , high school from 1929 to 1934, writing poetry and prose pieces at the same time. After writing the children's operetta The Toy-Shop (1928) and after several of her poems were published in national magazines, such as the New Yorker, McGinley gave up teaching and moved to New York City, holding various jobs, including copywriter at an advertising agency and poetry editor for Town and Country briefly in 1937. McGinley's first collection of verse, On the Contrary, was published in 1934, and was followed by One More Manhattan (1937) and A Pocketful of Wry (1940), all of which were well received. Three more collections followed. By the time The Love Letters of Phyllis McGinley was published in 1954 her popularity was firmly established. The book, about the joys of suburbia, sold 40, 000 copies and critics took notice. She had begun writing children's books in 1944 (The Horse Who Lived Upstairs), and Wonderful Time (1966) was named one of the best of the year by the New York Times. Times Three included new poems and verse from seven volumes published from 1934 to 1954. She wrote more prose than poetry in her later years, contributing articles to national women's magazines. McGinley died in New York City, where she had returned after the death of her husband.
(An amusing and delectable book which suceeds in rescuing ...)
(Originally published in 1950, this Caldecott Honor Book f...)
(Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Secker & Warburg (1961) P...)
(Lyric re-telling of 15 medieval legends of the First Chri...)
(Vintage Childrens Illustrated Picture Book.)
(Third printing 1964. MacMillan. Name and bookplate inside...)
Much of her work reflected her strong religious beliefs. She wrote a devotional book for children, A Wreath of Christmas Legends (1967), and essays about Catholic saints, collected in Saint-Watching (1969), the last of her eighteen books.
Quotations: "In times of unrest and fear it is perhaps his duty to celebrate, to single out some of the values we can cherish, to talk about some of the few warm things we know in a cold world. "
Until her husband's death in 1972, she often drew on their suburban family life and domestic issues as a source for her ironic, affectionate, and often witty light verse. Katherine White, fiction and poetry editor at the New Yorker, is credited with advising McGinley when she began submitting her work to the magazine in the 1920's to switch from "the same sad song all our lady poets sing" to a more playful style.
Like an Erma Bombeck who rhymed, McGinley became an important source of suburban wit during the 1950's and 1960's. Although McGinley and her eighteen books and numerous short publications were in the limelight for nearly four decades and critics claimed she was sure to enjoy lasting prominence, she is now largely forgotten. Most of her work, except for a few of her children's books, is either out of print or gathering dust on library shelves.
Quotes from others about the person
"She had restored delight to poetry, as well as a magical sense of communication and intimacy between herself and the reader. " - Charles Jackson
In 1937, McGinley married Charles L. Hayden, a telephone company executive. They moved to Larchmont, New York, and had two children.