The Lady from Vermont: Dorothy Canfield Fisher's Life and World

by Elizabeth Yates

Book by Elizabeth Yates

Genres: Biography

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Elizabeth Yates, author of over forty books for children, was born in New York State on December 6th, 1905. Determined to be an author, she moved to New York City to launch her career. She worked a variety of jobs including reviewing book, writing short stories, and doing research. She moved to England with her husband and wrote her first book, High Holiday, based on her travels in Switzerland with her three children. The family returned to the U.S. in 1939 and settled in New Hampshire. Yates won the Newbery Award in 1951 for her book, Amos Fortune, Free Man, a biography of an African prince who is enslaved and taken to America.

Yates conducted writer's workshops at the University of New Hampshire, the University of Connecticut, and Indiana University. She also served as the Director of the New Hampshire Association for the Blind.

Yates was widowed in 1963. Elizabeth Yates died Sunday at a hospice in Concord, New Hampshire on July 29, 2001 at the age of 95.

Elizabeth Yates' books have been described as "the result of extensive research, a strong underlying belief in God, and a vivid imagination."

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 24, 140am ~~ Review asap.

1130am ~~ I really enjoyed this biography of Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I have been reading her work this month and wanted to know more about her. This book made Fisher come alive as an author, activist, and noble personality. I was impressed with the woman and what she did with her life.

I expected that at the end of this book I would call my Fisher challenge complete, but now I have to admit that I have ordered a collection of short stories to enjoy. I was slightly tempted to try a couple of her later novels. They were discussed a bit in the book, but I already knew I preferred her short stories so I controlled myself for once. lol

Fisher was quite an interesting person. She was intelligent, talented, fair minded, and she wanted to DO something in the world. She lived her beliefs, she did not just talk about them. She was a very down to earth type of person who accepted the world as it was but also tried as much as she could to help other people. Not to gain attention, but because it was the right thing to do.

I liked her a lot. She seemed like an honest woman who didn't make a fuss about silly things, and she lived her life to the fullest. I am glad I 'met' her. I hope I can be more like her when I grow up.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtitle: Dorothy Canfield Fisher's Life and World. Born in 1879, Dorothy was a highly educated, prolific author of both children's books and adult novels, as well as many non-fiction works. She was also a social activist, engaging in a long list of causes from women's suffrage to children's causes and education. She promoted the importation of Montessori education in the U. S. after becoming familiar with the method in Italy and organized foster home placements for European children during World War II.
Having read her popular childhood book-Understood Betsy-many years ago, I decided to download her complete works onto my Kindle. I haven't tackled those books yet but wanted to meet the author first by reading this biography. It was a very detailed book because the author knew Dorothy personally and wrote the book before her death in 1958. Still, there were gaps that I have questions about and can't find answers in any other sources. I have read that some literary figures consider Dorothy to be outdated and irrelevant today. Guess I'll decide after I read more of her books.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book moving and inspiring. (I read it as a teenager, but just re-read.) It's not what I'd call a "critical" biography. Yates was a huge admirer and paints Canfield in a very positive light. But I think it does demonstrate that Canfield Fisher devoted her life to helping human beings understand and respect each other. She used her writing, but also the power her success as a writer brought to her. She lived her life as simply as she could, and seemed to me to have a big and generous heart and an open-minded and questioning mind. And she did MUCH to promote reading in this country! She was very much loved by most who knew her and read her work in the first half of the 20th century. The only other biography I know of is by Ida Washington from 1982; I'll read that soon.