Penelope Niven

Penelope Ellen Niven (April 11, 1939 — August 28, 2014) was an American academic and biographer. As Penelope McJunkin, she worked at a Catholic school and multiple high schools by the late 1980s. During this time period, she worked for Earlham College and the University of Illinois, Urbana as part of the Sandburg Collection Development Project. As Penelope Niven, she was a fellow at Yale University during the mid 1990s. She also held writer-in-residence positions with Greensboro College and Salem College up to the 2000s.

Apart from education, she processed Carl Sandburg's material at Connemara during the 1970s and became an archivist there in 1979. As an author, Niven contributed to two cookbooks for people with dental braces during the 1980s. Between the 1990s to 2010s, Niven wrote biographies about Sandburg, Edward Steichen and Thornton Wilder. She also co-wrote a 1993 memoir by James Earl Jones and her own memoir in 2004. Niven was given a North Carolina Award in 2004 and posthumously joined the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 2018.

Early life and education

Niven's birth occurred at Waxhaw, North Carolina on April 11, 1939.[1] Niven was interested in writing at the age of five.[2] She also went to Charlotte, North Carolina with her parents for part of her childhood.[3] Niven worked for multiple school publications while attending Greensboro College in the late 1950s.[4] Niven had completed her studies at Greensboro and Wake Forest College before her 1963 marriage.[5]

Career

Teaching and archiving

After her marriage, Penelope McJunkin became an English teacher during the 1960s.[6][7] She started her educational career at a Winston-Salem high school.[8] By the late 1970s, McJunkin went to Maryland and worked for a Catholic school.[7] From 1977 to 1978, she was at a Richmond, Indiana high school.[9] During this time period, she started processing Carl Sandburg's written material that was at Connemara.[10] While at Connemara, McJunkin became an archivist in 1979.[11]

Outside of Connemara, McJunkin went to Earlham College in 1978 to work on the Sandburg Collection Development Project as a director. She continued working on this project during the mid 1980s as a member of the University of Illinois, Urbana.[9] By 1994, Niven was an academic for St. Mary's College of Maryland and University of North Carolina at Asheville before she joined Greensboro College as an "assistant to the president and writer-in-residence".[12] During 1997, Niven was working at Salem College as their writer-in-residence.[13] Niven continued to hold her position with Salem throughout the 2000s.[14][15]

Writing and documentary

After Niven began to use dental braces, she and her husband co-wrote the 1984 book The I Hate To Chew Cookbook: A Gourmet Guide for Adults Who Wear Orthodontic Braces.[16] She helped her daughter create the 1988 book Teen Cuisine: A Cookbook for Young People Who Wear Orthodontic Braces.[17] In 1991, Niven released Carl Sandburg: A Biography.[18] As a co-writer with James Earl Jones, they published the 1993 memoir titled James Earl Jones: Voices and Silences.[19] In 1996, Niven's daughter created Velva Jean Learns to Drive. The short film was based on a short story by Niven that was not released.[20]

With Steichen: A Biography, her book about Edward Steichen was released the following year.[21] She was a co-writer on the 2000 book Old Salem: The Official Guidebook.[22] Her book with Jones had the epilogue changed in 2002 and was released as Voices and Silences.[8] As a children's book author, Niven wrote Carl Sandburg: Adventures of a Poet in 2003 while the pictures were provided by Marc Nadel.[23]

Her memoir, Swimming Lessons: Life Lessons from the Pool, from Diving In to Treading Water, was published the next year.[24] For R. Philips Hayes, she edited his 2006 book titled How to Get Anyone to Do Anything.[8][25] She continued her biographical career with a 2012 book on Thornton Wilder titled Thornton Wilder: A Life.[26] Apart from writing, Niven was interviewed for The Day Carl Sandburg Died in 2011.[27] The documentary appeared as an episode of American Masters the following year.[28][29]

Writing process and criticism

Niven took 14 years to complete her Sandburg biography and conducted hundreds of interviews.[30] Her book with Jones included journal entries and a timeline of his works while taking four years to complete.[31][32] With Steichen, Niven was not allowed to include photographs owned by his widow Joanna Steichen.[33]

Reviewers from The Boston Globe and Winston-Salem Journal had different opinions on the length of Niven's book about Steichen.[34][35] For Thornton Wilder, Niven used "thousands of pages of journals, letters and records".[26] While reviewing Niven's biography on Wilder for The Boston Globe, Patti Hartigan believed that information about what people and places looked like were not included.[36]

Awards and honors

In 1984, Niven received a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies for her Sandburg work.[37] During the 1990s, she was given fellowships for her books on Steichen and Wilder from the National Endowment for the Humanities.[38][39] During this time period, she was a Yale University fellow in the mid 1990s.[40] In 2004, Carl Sandburg: Adventures of a Poet won the Children's and Young Adults' Book Award in the Intermediate Nonfiction category from the International Literacy Association.[41]

That year, Niven was given a North Carolina Award in the literature category.[42] She joined the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame posthumously in 2018.[43][44] From Greensboro, Niven received the Alumni Excellence Award during 1994.[45] Salem College created the Penelope Niven Award for Creative Writing in 1998 while the Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award was created by the Salem College Center for Women Writers in 2002.[46][47]

Personal life and death

In 1987, Niven had a divorce.[8] Her death occurred at Winston-Salem, North Carolina on August 28, 2014.[1]

References
  1. Schudel, Matt (September 9, 2014). "Penelope Niven, who wrote about 20th-century cultural figures, dies at 75". The Washington Post.
  2. Niven, Penelope (2004). Swimming Lessons: Life Lessons from the Pool, from Diving in to Treading Water (1st Harvest ed.). Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. p. 19. ISBN 0156027070. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  3. Niven 2004, pp. 13-14
  4. "Editor". The Greensboro Record. December 10, 1959. p. sec. B p. 1.
  5. "Miss Niven Marries J. F. McJunkin Jr". The Charlotte Observer. August 10, 1963. p. 7-A.
  6. Niven 2004, p. 100
  7. Reynolds, Dick (September 6, 1980). "She knows Sandburg as few others do". Palladum-Item. p. A3.
  8. Tyrkus, Michael J., ed. (2015). "Penelope Niven". Contemporary Authors. Vol. 365. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Cengage Learning. p. 316. ISBN 9781573023962. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  9. Heidlage, Debbie (October 10, 1985). "She searches for Carl Sandburg's story". Palladium-Item. p. C1.
  10. Reynolds 1980, p. A3
  11. Reynolds 1980, p. A3
  12. "Greensboro College names author as writer-in-residence". The News & Record. May 27, 1994. p. sec. Greensboro p. 2.
  13. "Writer in residence to read from new work". Winston-Salem Journal. November 16, 1997. p. A20.
  14. Sheeley, Rachel E. (February 25, 2001). "Author's mother also makes name for herself in writing". The Palladium-Item. p. E1.
  15. O'Donnell, Lisa (November 16, 2006). "The Nivens: Mother, daughter are acclaimed writers". Winston-Salem Journal. p. A6.
  16. Segal, Donna (September 9, 1984). "Hate to chew? This book's for you". The Indianapolis Star. p. 1G.
  17. Superville, Darlene (September 4, 1988). "Cookbook offers alternative cuisine for braces wearers". Daily Record. Northwest New Jersey. Associated Press. p. B2.
  18. Lingeman, Richard (July 14, 1991). "Poet for the People". The Los Angeles Times. p. sec. Book Review p. 1.
  19. Schleier, Curt (August 28, 1993). "Strong voice, stronger will". The Kansas City Star. p. E-9.
  20. Lapolla, Joie (May 12, 1996). "Gift of the day: Daughter's film is from mom's short story". The Charlotte Observer. sec. The Union Observer p. 3U.
  21. Temin, Christine (December 28, 1997). "Getting the picture". The Boston Globe. p. L1.
  22. Miller, Mary (October 2000). "Other Recent Publications". The North Carolina Historical Review. 77 (4): 532. JSTOR 23522226.
  23. Boyer, Rick (August 3, 2003). "Children's book tells Carl Sandburg story". Asheville Citizen-Times. p. B4.
  24. Woodard, Beth (April 25, 2004). "Salem College author encourages learning for, and from, life". Winston-Salem Journal. p. A20.
  25. Hanes, R. Philip (2006). Niven, Penelope (ed.). How to Get Anyone to Do Anything. Berkeley and Toronto: Ten Speed Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN 1580086675. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  26. Kelley, Pam (December 2, 2012). "N.C. biographer shows personal side of Thornton Wilder". The News & Observer. p. 4D.
  27. Hall, Melissa (April 15, 2011). "Sandburg documentary star". Winston-Salem Journal. p. A4.
  28. Kiss, Tony (September 23, 2012). "Sandburg film, showing Monday, a boon to poet's local home site". Asheville Citizen-Times. p. B1.
  29. "Carl Sandburg | Carl Sandburg Biography and Timeline | American Masters". PBS. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  30. Engle, Bill (September 27, 1991). "Author credits Richmond with writing of Sandburg book". Palladium-Item. p. A3.
  31. Erickson, Jim (November 14, 1993). "Jones tells an interesting story, expounds eccentric philosophy". The Wichita Eagle. p. 5E.
  32. Walker, Susan (October 7, 1993). "Defending the dramatist's right to disturb". The Toronto Star. p. D6.
  33. Michaelis, David (February 8, 1998). "The 'messiah' of modern photography". The Courier-Journal. p. I 5.
  34. Temin 1997, p. L4
  35. Rolfe, David (February 22, 1998). "Picture Perfect". Winston-Salem Journal. p. A20.
  36. Hartigan, Patti (November 2, 2012). "Lifting the curtain on the life of Thornton Wilder". The Boston Globe. p. G 5.
  37. "Penelope Niven". American Council of Learned Societies. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  38. "NEH grant details: A Biography of Edward Steichen". National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  39. "Sandburg biographer to give lecture". Asheville Citizen-Times. April 26, 1998. p. D2.
  40. Lapolla, Joie (October 1, 1995). "Waxham author proves you can go home again". The Charlotte Observer. p. 3U.
  41. Galda, Lee; Liang, Lauren Aimonette; Cullinan, Bernice E. (2017). Literature and the Child (Ninth ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning. pp. 420, 422. ISBN 9781305668843. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  42. Curliss, J. Andrew (November 18, 2004). "N.C. Award Graces Seven Honorees". The News & Observer. p. 3B.
  43. "2018". North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. North Carolina Writers' Network. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  44. "Penelope Niven". North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. North Carolina Writers' Network. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  45. "Alumni Excellence Award Recipients" (PDF). Greensboro College. June 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
  46. "Honors and Awards". Salem College. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  47. "National Literary Competitions". The Charlotte Observer. December 8, 2002. p. 9H.
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