Eric P. Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1884-03-16)March 16, 1884 |
| Died | January 3, 1960(1960-01-03) (aged 75) |
| Occupation | Journalist, teacher |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 20th century |
| Genre | Juvenile fiction |
Eric Philbrook Kelly (March 16, 1884 – January 3, 1960) was anAmerican journalist, academic and author ofchildren's books. He was a professor of English atDartmouth College and briefly a lecturer at theJagiellonian University inKraków. He won the 1929Newbery Medal recognizing his first published book,The Trumpeter of Krakow, as the preceding year's most distinguished contribution to American children's literature.[1]
Kelly was born in 1884 inAmesbury, Massachusetts. Kelly graduated Dartmouth College in 1906 (BA). As a student, Kelly was a member of the French club and one of the first members of The Pukwana Club, which would eventually transition into the Delta Beta chapter of theSigma Nu fraternity.[2]
After "ten colorless, uneventful, and discouraging years working on newspapers", Kelly volunteered in 1918 to work with the welfare organisation Les Foyers du Soldat inQuentin, France. He found himself in charge of athletics and entertainment for 2,000 Polish soldiers inHaller's Army. In May 1919, Kelly was shipped across Germany to the newly recognised state ofPoland in a closed boxcar along with the Polish troops. His new base was established in the old Napoleonic fortress ofModlin, nearWarsaw. He wrote to his mother that "Warsaw is a beautiful city, reminds me in some ways of Denver."[citation needed]
During the 1919–1920Polish–Soviet War, Kelly was posted atChełm with Haller's Army on theBug River. In January 1921, Kelly returned to the US where he took a job as a teacher atMercersburg Academy. During this period he wrote descriptions of his experience in Poland and warned against the dangers ofBolshevik propaganda. Six months later, he was hired by his alma mater, Dartmouth College, where he would teach for 33 years. In 1924, he married his wife Katherine but, in spite of his fame as a children’s author, did not have any children of his own.
1925–1926 Kelly went to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków as the first American exchange scholar sent to Poland by theKosciuszko Foundation. Kelly served as an instructor of American Literature and Institutions in the Department of English Philology under Prof. Roman Dybowski.
On 4 July 1926, Kelly ceremonially placed a vase filled with earth fromTadeusz Kościuszko's North American battlefields atYorktown andSaratoga in theKościuszko Mound overlooking Kraków. That same year, he started work onThe Trumpeter of Krakow which won the Newbery Medal for Children's literature in 1929. This novel contains the first known reference in any language to the now-popular legend of thehejnał trumpeter shot by aTartar arrow.
Kelly spent 1930 as a researcher inVilnius and 1931 inLviv (both in Polish hands at that time). These inspired further Polish-themed children’s books:The Blacksmith of Vilno andThe Golden Star of Halicz. His 1932 book,The Christmas Nightingale, was adapted as a play in 1935.
In 1943–1945, Kelly worked for theUS State Department taking care of Polish refugees inLeón, Guanajuato,Mexico.[1]
Kelly was chairman of thePulitzer Prize selection committee for the novel in the years 1951, 1952 and 1953. He retired from teaching in 1954, and retired toChebeague Island, Maine, andOjo Caliente, New Mexico.[1]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by | Newbery Medal winner 1929 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| Other | |
