Margaret Mitchell

Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8 1900 - August 16 1949) was the American author who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 for her immensely successful novel, Gone with the Wind, that was published in 1936. The novel is one of the most popular books of all time, selling more copies than any other hard-cover book, apart from the Bible, and is reputed to be still selling at 200,000 copies a year. An American film adaptation, released in 1939, became the highest-grossing film in the history of Hollywood, and received a record-breaking number of Academy Awards.

Gone with the Wind

Mitchell is reported to have begun writing Gone with the Wind while bedridden and nursing a broken ankle. Her husband, John Marsh, brought home historical books from the public library to amuse her while she convalesced. Finally, he told her, "Peggy, if you want another book, why don't you write your own?" She drew upon her encyclopedic knowledge of the Civil War, and used dramatic moments from her own life, to write her epic novel, typing it out on an old Remington typewriter. She originally called her heroine "Pansy O'Hara", and Tara was "Fontenoy Hall."

Related Topics:
Ankle - Civil War

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Mitchell wrote for her own amusement, with solid support from her husband, but she kept her literary efforts a secret from all her friends. She would hide the voluminous pages under towels, disguising them as a divan, or hide pages in her closets or under her bed. She wrote in a haphazard fashion, writing the last chapter first, and skipping around from chapter to chapter. Her husband regularly proofread her mounting manuscript to help in continuity. By 1929, when her ankle had healed and most of the book was written, she lost interest in pursuing her literary efforts.

Related Topics:
Divan - Proofread - Manuscript - 1929

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Mitchell lived her life as a modest Atlanta housewife until a fateful visit from a MacMillan publisher, Howard Latham, who came to Atlanta in 1935. Latham was scouring the South for promising new Southern writers, and Mitchell agreed to escort him around Atlanta at the request of her friend, who now worked for Latham. Latham was enchanted with Mitchell, and asked her if she had ever written a book. Mitchell demurred... she was too professional to even dream of showing her old, haphazard manuscript to a publisher. "Well, IF you ever do write a book, please show it to me first!" Latham implored. Later that day, a friend of Mitchell's, having heard this conversation laughed. "Imagine, anyone as silly as Peggy writing a book!" she said. Mitchell stewed over this comment, went home, and found most of the old, crumbling envelopes containing her disjointed manuscript which she had stowed away. She arrived at The Georgian Terrace Hotel, just as Latham was preparing to depart Atlanta. "Here," she said, "take this before I change my mind!"

Related Topics:
MacMillan - Publisher - 1935

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Latham bought an extra suitcase to accommodate the giant manuscript that had piled taller than the diminutive author. When Mitchell arrived home, she was horrified over her impetuous act. She sent a telegram to Latham: "Have changed my mind. Send manuscript back." It was too late. Latham had read enough pages of the disjointed, disintegrating manuscript to realize he had a blockbuster. Instead of returning the manuscript, he wrote to her of his thoughts on the potential success of the manuscript's eventual publication. MacMillan soon sent her an advance check to encourage her to complete the novel ? oddly enough, Mitchell had never composed a first chapter for the manuscript. Mitchell completed her work in March, 1936.

Related Topics:
Telegram - Blockbuster - 1936

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Gone with the Wind was published on June 30, 1936. The book was dramatized by David O. Selznick, and released three years later. The official premiere of the film was held in Atlanta on December 15, 1939.

Related Topics:
Publish - June 30 - 1936 - David O. Selznick - Premiere - December 15 - 1939

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The house where Mitchell lived, while writing her manuscript is known today as The Margaret Mitchell House. Located in Midtown Atlanta, it is a major tourist destination. Another major tourist destination, a museum dedicated to GWTW, the book and film, lies a few miles north of Atlanta, in Marietta, Georgia. It is called "Scarlett On the Square", as it is located on the historic Marietta Square. It houses costumes from the film, scripts, and many artifacts from GWTW, including Margaret Mitchell's collection of foreign editions of her book.

Related Topics:
The Margaret Mitchell House - Midtown Atlanta - Tourist destination - Museum - Marietta, Georgia - Marietta Square - Costume - Script - Artifact

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Additionally, Clayton County (the area just south of Atlanta and the setting for the fictional O'Hara plantation, Tara) maintains "The Road to Tara" Museum in the old railroad depot in downtown Jonesboro.

Related Topics:
Clayton County - Railroad - Depot - Jonesboro

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