Gene Stratton Porter

Gene StrattonPorter was an American author, early naturalist, nature photographer, and one of the first women to form a movie studio and production company, Gene StrattonPorter Productions, Inc. She wrote several bestselling novels and wellreceived columns in national magazines, such as McCalls. Her works were translated into several languages, including Braille, and StrattonPorter was estimated to have had 50 million readers around the world. She used her position and income as a wellknown author to support conservation of Limberlost Swamp and other wetlands in the state of Indiana. Her novel A Girl of the Limberlost was adapted four times as a film, most recently in 1990 in a madeforTV version.

She was born Geneva Grace Stratton in Wabash County, Indiana near Lagro. She was the twelfth and last child born to Mary and Mark Stratton. Early on, her family shortened her name to Geneve and she later shortened it further to Gene. StrattonPorters novel Laddie corresponds in many particulars with her early life, and Gene herself described this as the most autobiographical novel. For example, the narrative takes place in the first person, with the story being related by the twelfth child of the Stanton family. The name of the beloved older brother Laddie is identical with StrattonPorters own treasured brother who died in an accident when she was young. As in StrattonPorters own family, the novelized Laddie is connected with the land and identifies with their fathers vocation. Despite not finishing high school, Gene became an avid reader and lifelong scholar of ecology and wildlife.

Source: Wikipedia