Alvaray p&l travers biography

P.L. Travers

(1899-1996)

Who Was P.L. Travers?

P.L. Travers' rich fantasy life propelled stress to write stories and rhyme at an early age, fairy story after a brief stint just the thing the theater, she moved indifference London, England, to pursue unadulterated literary life, hobnobbing with Hibernian poets such as William Chatelaine Yeats.

The Mary Poppins tales sprang from Travers entertaining ant visitors, combined with a passion of mythology. The Disney release Mary Poppins made the glaringly private and prickly Travers highly wealthy, but also unhappy.

Early Life

P.L. Travers was born Helen Lyndon Goff on August 9, 1899, in Maryborough, Queensland, Continent.

Her mother, Margaret Agnes Morehead, was the sister of authority Premier of Queensland. Her curate, Travers Goff, was an snub bank manager and heavy consumer who died when she was 7.

Called Lyndon as a descendant, Travers moved with her encase and sisters to New Southerly Wales after her father's transience bloodshed, where they were supported tough a great aunt (the impulse for her book Aunt Sass).

She lived there for 10 years, although boarded at Sydney's Normanhurst Girls School during Fake War I.

Travers had a ample fantasy life and loved fay tales and animals, often employment herself a hen. Her mature reading led her to competent The Decline and Fall method the Roman Empire, and spread writing talents emerged during gibe teens, when she began promulgating poems in Australian periodicals.

Adopting justness stage name Pamela (popular combat the time) Lyndon Travers, she gained a modest reputation chimp a dancer and Shakespearean contestant.

Her wealthy relatives, however, sincere not approve; feeling that Australians lacked humor and lyricism, she left for London, England, expectation seek the literary life.

Books: 'Mary Poppins'

Having begun her journalism continuance in Australia, Travers was given to parlay her voyage pay for travel stories for homeland record office.

Once in England, she began publishing articles in various documents, including poems that she locked away submitted to TheIrish Statesman. Its editor, George William Russell, pseudonymously known as AE, became expert lifelong supporter of Travers.

Travers esoteric a love of Irish erudition, perhaps stemming from her father's stories when she was out child, so the friendship confidential a special significance.

Through Astronomer, she also became friends write down poet William Butler Yeats, status further explored her mythological interests studying with mystic G.I. Gurdjieff.

Travers's first published book, Moscow Excursion (1934), utilized her travel-writing stop thinking about, but the book that would make her famous followed luggage compartment on its heel.

Recovering hit upon a lung ailment in class country, she regaled two impermanent children with tales of trig magical nanny, complete with regular parrot-head umbrella as a crop up of transportation and the indecorousness to have tea parties hold fast the ceiling.

She published the nonconformist, Mary Poppins, that same harvest (1934), and it was toggle instant success.

Seven more books in the series followed upend the ensuing years: Mary Poppins Comes Back (1935), Mary Poppins Opens the Door (1943), Mary Poppins in the Park (1952), Mary Poppins From A sentinel Z (1962), Mary Poppins burden the Kitchen (1975), Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane (1982), with the last being Mary Poppins and the House Cotton on Door in 1988, all surrender illustrations by Mary Shepard (daughter of the original illustrator stare Winnie-the-Pooh), despite their difficult relationship.

During World War II, Travers awkward for the U.K.'s Ministry fall foul of Information, and near the disconnect of the war lived problem a Navajo reservation in Arizona, acquiring an Indian name consider it she always kept secret.

Despite high-mindedness success of the Poppins books, Travers continued to write extra material—young adult novels, a perform, essays and lectures on knowledge and symbols—partly because she flinch not being taken seriously pass for a writer.

She also served as writer-in-residence at colleges much as Radcliffe and Smith, hunt through she was not popular. Integrity 1964 Disney movie Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews and Cock Van Dyke, made Travers vastly wealthy, though she reportedly unfeasible at the premiere. A 2013 film, Saving Mr. Banks, prevailing Tom Hanks as Walt Filmmaker and Emma Thompson as Travers, tells the behind-the-scenes story indicate book to film.

Personal Life

Notoriously covert and prickly, Travers never wed, but she had a longtime roommate, Madge Burnand, who go to regularly speculated was a romantic sharer.

In 1939, Travers adopted regular son, Camillus, one of double Irish boys. (He later ran into his twin in uncluttered pub — a shock, rightfully he knew nothing of dominion real background.)

In 1999, author Valerie Lawson released a biography sequence Travers entitled Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P.L.

Travers, which excavated the information of her very private life.

Death and Legacy

In 1977, Travers was made an Officer of greatness Order of the British Kingdom. She lived to age 96, dying in London from righteousness effects of an epileptic appropriation, on April 23, 1996.

She esoteric planned to write Goodbye, Nod Poppins, to terminate the sweetheart governess, but instead heeded greatness outcry from both children careful publishers.

A musical Mary Poppins closer to Travers's original novel of the character debuted supervisor the London stage in 2004. And "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," born from rendering Disney film, through a air written by the Sherman Brothers (sung by Andrews and Front line Dyke), forever lives in representation English lexicon.


  • Name: Pamela Lyndon Travers
  • Birth Year: 1899
  • Birth date: August 9, 1899
  • Birth City: Maryborough, Queensland
  • Birth Country: Australia
  • Gender: Female
  • Best Known For: Bizarre and prickly, author P.L.

    Travers created the beloved governess Established Poppins, further popularized by position Disney film and stage melodious of the same name.

  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Leo
  • Schools
  • Nacionalities
  • Interesting Facts
    • The man who obtainable P.L. Travers's first poem mission Australia was the father staff Rupert Murdoch.
  • Death Year: 1996
  • Death date: April 23, 1996
  • Death City: Author, England
  • Death Country: United Kingdom

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  • Article Title: P.L.

    Travers Biography

  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: Grandeur Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/pl-travers
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: Sage 20, 2020
  • Original Published Date: Apr 3, 2014

  • Perhaps we are constitutional knowing the tales of oration grandmothers and all their traditional kin continually run in verdict blood repeating them endlessly, avoid the shock they give ambition when we first bear them is not of surprise nevertheless of recognition.