An author who has published extensively on the topics of popular and children's fiction - from a study of women in detective novels, to a biography of Richmal Crompton, creator of the Just William and Billy Bunter series - Mary Cadogan took to writing late in life, after a long career, first with the BBC, and then working for Indian philosopher Krishnamurti. She edited the Just William Society Magazine for a number of years, as well as the Story Paper Collectors' Digest, from 1987 through 2005. Cadogan was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University in 2009.