Constance Lindsay Skinner was a Canadian writer, critic, historian and editor best known for having conceived the Rivers of America Series for the publisher Farrar & Rinehart.
Early life and career
Born Constance Annie Skinner on December 7, 1877, at Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada to Robert and Annie Skinner, Skinner later substituted her mother's maiden name for the middle name that appeared on her birth certificate. Her father was an agent for the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1891 the family relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia. By this time, Skinner was already writing, completing her first published work, In Gelderland, during her teen years. In 1893, Skinner went to live with her aunt in California. While little is known of her childhood, much of the history and many of the novels and stories she wrote in later years were related to the northwest, Canada, and the gold rush. Between 1902 and 1907 she moved from California to New York City, where she expanded her repertoire to include plays and criticism. She was a regular theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune. While it is unclear when her first novel was published, by 1917, one of her novels, Good-Morning Rosamond!, had been adapted into a three-act comedy and performed at the Shubert Theatre.
In 1936 Skinner became the architect and first editor of the Rivers of America Series for the publishers Farrar & Rinehart. In an essay published in the early volumes of the Series she described the Series as being an exploration and interpretation of American folklife through the history, exploration, and flow of America's rivers. Originally conceived as 24 volumes, Skinner died March 27, 1939, from a coronary occlusion with arteriosclerosis. She died at her desk, editing the sixth volume in the Series, The Hudson, by Carl Carmer. The Series would eventually reach 65 volumes. Her papers are at the New York Public Library. The Women's National Book Association's Constance Lindsay Skinner Award was named in her honor.
Partial bibliography
Non-fiction
Adventurers of Oregon
Pioneers of the Old Southwest: a Chronicle of the Dark and Bloody Ground
