Today is a tribute day! A tribute to a great author who may not be loved by everyone, but who was a phenomenal success in her day and had a profound effect on the romance genre. What did she accomplish in her lifetime?
- Wrote 723 books, translated into 38 languages
- Sold so many books in a single year, she made it into the Guinness Book of World Records
- During the Second World War Barbara Cartland was Chief Lady Welfare Officer in Bedfordshire looking after 20,000 service men and women.
- Barbara wrote a number of biographies of famous characters from history, including the biography of her brother, Ronald Cartland, who was the first Member of Parliament to be killed in the Second World War.
- In 1978 she sang an Album of Love Songs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
- In 1964 Barbara founded the National Association for Health in the UK, of which she was President.
- In January 1988 she received "La Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris", (The Gold Medal of Paris). This is the highest award to be given by the City of Paris for achievement - 25 million books sold in France.
- In 1981 Barbara was made a Dame of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours List by Her Majesty the Queen, for her contribution to literature and for her work for the Community.
- She left behind 160 unpublished manuscripts which it is said will be published at some point.
- ...and she adored the color pink!
Learn More About Barbara Cartland!
Information Source: http://www.barbaracartland.com/static/life.aspx?from=1
BC Image Source: http://www.cool-stuff.co.uk/Cartland/index.html
More Information:
- http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CIoBEBYwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBarbara_Cartland&ei=EquqT8CCDbHZiAKDw6TjDg&usg=AFQjCNFQJCrx9s90ePwf0Yy-Xx5Xlmchig
- http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=13&ved=0CKcBEBYwDA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Fname%2Fnm0142073%2F&ei=EquqT8CCDbHZiAKDw6TjDg&usg=AFQjCNFGJHvWpRQ3b8N1djZSmW8bzRQ9fg
She did not hit her hundredth book until 1963. She was congratulated on it in the Romantic Novelists' Association News at the time. So she wrote 630+ books after what we have come to think of as retirement age. Impressive.
ReplyDeleteCould you imagine writing so many books after you've 'retired'? She was impressive. Thank you for the added bit of information Jenny.
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