Early Life
On November 8,1900, Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was born,in Atlanta, to Eugene and Mary Belle Mitchell.(She was a fourth-generation Atlantan) She was the second child in the family, after her brother, Stephens, who was born 4 years earlier. As a child, Margaret was already destined to be a writer: she wrote stories and plays of which she also directed to her friends.Margaret attended Tenth Street School, Woodberry School, and Washington Seminary, where she founded a drama club, was the President of the Washington Literary Society, and the literary editor of the high school yearbook.
When Margaret attended Smith Colledge, she suffered some tradgedies. Her mother had died due to a flu epidimic, her fiance was killed during World War I, and she was left alone to carry the burden of taking care of her brother and her father. Margaret met Berrien Kinnard Upshaw of North Carolina, and married him in 1922. The marriage ended up in a divorce; Mitchell married John Marsh in July 4, 1925, with whom she was wed to until her death in 1949. They lived in a small apartment, which they called "the Dump". Margaret Mitchell didn't have any children.
When Margaret attended Smith Colledge, she suffered some tradgedies. Her mother had died due to a flu epidimic, her fiance was killed during World War I, and she was left alone to carry the burden of taking care of her brother and her father. Margaret met Berrien Kinnard Upshaw of North Carolina, and married him in 1922. The marriage ended up in a divorce; Mitchell married John Marsh in July 4, 1925, with whom she was wed to until her death in 1949. They lived in a small apartment, which they called "the Dump". Margaret Mitchell didn't have any children.
Gone With the Wind
As known from her childhood, Margaret was a gifted writer. She usually wrote tales based on people she saw daily. After she married her first husband, Berrien KInnard Upshaw, Margaret Mitchell worked for the Atlanta Journal (now the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) as a featured writer. During her brief, 4-year career with the Journal, she wrote 129 articles. Unfortunately, her career as a journalist ended when she broke her ankle. Mitchell had nothing to do while recovering from her injury, so she started her would-be famous book. Mitchell originally named it "Tomorrow is Another Day". Astonishingly, she began writing with the last chapter first, with the others following in no sequential order. After typing, she would put them in manila envelopes; Margaret would hide them with a towel if vistors were to come. When commented that she was "not serious enough to write a novel", Mitchell went to Harold Latham and submitted the manuscript. Latham, who worked for Macmillan publishing company, was traveling throughout the south, looking for the newest, availabe manuscript. Taking Mitchell's work into a newly purchased suitcase, Latham began to read them on the way to New Orleans, Louisiana. Astounded by her work, he immediately shipped it to New York. To her utmost suprise, Margaret recieved a contract from Macmillan in July and $500 in advance. Thrust with the responsibility of finishing her book, Mitchell tirelessly worked with severe eyestrain to assembe and revise the entire book.(It was during this revision that the heroine's name was changed from Pansy to Scarlett.) Some titles for her book were: Tomorrow Is Another Day, Another Day, Tote the Weary Load, Milestones, Ba! Ba! Blacksheep, Not in Our Stars, and Bugles Sang True."Tomorrow is Another Day" was a phrase used by Scarlett O'Hara at the end of the book. Mitchell found the verse "Gone with the Wind" from a poem she read.
The book was officially published on June 30, 1936, selling for $3 a copy. Although Mitchell usually joked with family and friends that her book woud sell under 5,00 copies, she transformed into an overnight celebrity; she was in the spotlight so much that she began to resent the publicity her book produced. Her story sold for in a million copies in just the first 6 months. Unfortunately, Gone With the Wind will always be Mitchell's only published book. She destroyed all of her other works, yet, a few pages of her last chapter (which she wrote first) have been preserved behind glass frames at the Pequot Library in Southport, Conneticut. Another reason for her refusal to write any more books was the fact that she spent most of her time after publishing trying to protect her copyright internationally.
The book was officially published on June 30, 1936, selling for $3 a copy. Although Mitchell usually joked with family and friends that her book woud sell under 5,00 copies, she transformed into an overnight celebrity; she was in the spotlight so much that she began to resent the publicity her book produced. Her story sold for in a million copies in just the first 6 months. Unfortunately, Gone With the Wind will always be Mitchell's only published book. She destroyed all of her other works, yet, a few pages of her last chapter (which she wrote first) have been preserved behind glass frames at the Pequot Library in Southport, Conneticut. Another reason for her refusal to write any more books was the fact that she spent most of her time after publishing trying to protect her copyright internationally.
Death And Legacy
Soon after the release of her famous book, Mitchell was asked the rights to make a movie of Gone With The Wind by David Selznick. Margaret sold the rights for the price of $50,000, indeed a great deal of money during the Great Deppression Era in the United States. Fortunately, the movie became the world's best grossing motion picture for the next 20 years. Notable actors were Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara. Mitchell even attended the movie twice applauding the cast for making an awesome adaptation of her book.
However, fame cost Mitchell a lot of privacy, as she'd be flooded daily with numerous patrons of her book and movie. Even after her book was published, Mitchell went hiding in the mountains in Gainesville, Ga. Mitchell knew the risk of fame after asked for the movie rights, but she maged to ignore demands for speeches, autographs, and interviews by declaring she was in poor health or leaving the city or state altogether to avoid the publicity.
On August 11, 1949, Margaret was walking with her husband, John Marsh, across Peachtree Street to see a movie,"Cantebury Tales". Around the corner, a speeding off-duty taxi driver, Hugh Dorsey Gravitt, slammed right into Mitchell, knocking her out, unconscious. Although she was immediately given medical attention, Mitchell never fully recovered. Margaret Mitchell would soon die, 5 days later, in Grady Hospital. Mitchell was buried in Oakland Cemetery. Her husband John, was buried beside her after 3 years.
Margaret Mitchell is still remembered to this day to be one of the world's most popular and beloved authors; her book,Gone With The Wind, is the proof.