8 August 1896: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is born

The Yearling is a 1946 American film adapted from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ 1938 novel of the same name starring Gregory Peck. Cross Creek homestead, where Rawlings had written the novel, was used for filming some of the location scenes in the movie. [1]

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, born on 8 August 1896 in Washington, D.C., was a celebrated American writer best known for her evocative portrayal of rural life in the American South. The daughter of a successful physician, Dr Arthur Kinnan, and his wife, Ida, Rawlings was raised in a middle-class family that valued education and culture. She developed a love for literature and writing early on, influenced by her mother, who was an avid reader.

Rawlings spent much of her childhood in Washington, D.C., and later in the small town of Syracuse, New York. She attended Syracuse University, where she honed her writing skills and earned a degree in English. She met Charles Rawlings while working for the school literary magazine and married him in 1919. After graduation, she worked in various journalistic roles, writing for local newspapers and magazines that helped to refine her craft and allowed her to explore different narrative styles.

In 1928, the Rawlings, with a small inheritance from her mother, purchased an orange grove in the rural community of Cross Creek, Florida, where she would spend the majority of her life. The harsh realities of farming life and the colourful characters she encountered became central themes in her writing.

Rawlings’ breakthrough came with the publication of The Yearling in 1938, a novel set in the Florida backwoods that tells the story of a young boy and his relationship with a fawn. The novel was met with widespread acclaim and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1939. The Yearling resonated deeply with readers for its poignant portrayal of life, loss, and coming-of-age, marking Rawlings as one of the most significant literary voices of her time.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings passed away in 1953, at the age of 57, after a brief illness. Despite her relatively short life, her literary legacy endures, particularly through The Yearling, which continues to be celebrated as one of the great American novels.