New-York tribune., 1906-08-19
MRS. CRAIGIE'S CAREER
Her Exceptional AdUantages =
Whg She Chose Her PseudOnyme.

Pearl EEary Theresa Craigie. whose death oc-
CURED last Sunday in London at the age OF
tairty-nine and who has been before the public
since she was twenty-one, is said TO have begun
her literary career in the nursery. Before she
could write she used TO dictate stories 10 her
slurse. and at five she spent all her spare time
In composing short stories, which were drama
fized and produced in sumptuous fashion In a
TOY theatre OF her own.
AS she grew UP she contributed to various
shIldreE's magazines occasionally gaining prizes
One OF her earliest appearances in print was IN
a paper called THE Fountain and en-
titled Lost, a Dog" The story, which recited
the divertirg adventures of one Sandy. his loss
ana ultimate safe return. was signed Pearl
Richards, aged nine
Mrs. Craisde also showed an early fondness
for music, and her education was begun with
-1he object or making her pianist But the red
tape ot the Conservatoire in Paris, which in
sisted that 40 pupil should enter it's doors with
out signing for a three-years' course. stopped
fhe project Pearl Richards's parents. Mr.. and
Me John Morgan Richards, were unwilling TO
have her bfnG herself for so long time.
II was when she was eighteen that Mrs.
Crasgie decided 20 devote herself to writing, and
ar tsgenty-one her first book, Some Emotions
and a Moral" written during months OF dreary
Illness and Domestic anxiety. published un-
DER the pseudoryzne which she used throughout
her Iffe John Oliver Hobbies" She decided to
cancel her identity behind masculine pseudo
nyme, because the book was a rather cynical
one and she felt that ff IL were known TO be
written by a woman, and very young woman
at that there would be much gnashing Of teeth
among the critics She had a great affection for
alis homely pen rIaane, and when the publisher
urged her to change it, together with the title
OF the book. she absolutely refused. Il won't
change the title" she said, land won't change
the pseudonyme. and If you publish the book
those two things win be published with st." Oc
rhe origin Of this name she once said:
In one OF my eaElEeT stories called my hero
Hobbies. because 1 was ultra-sentimental ana
thought Hobbies would serve TO counteracC
that weakness. John was my fathers name.
Oliver seemed an appropriate sequence 10 John.
and Hobbies the ILglieSt name could think
Of I wanted Disguise that would sound real
istic and Reginald or Harold or Trevelyan would
have aroused suspicion
An American by birth. Mrs. Craigie was an
American Of the Americans in her ancestry. Her
father can trace his ancestry back to pre-Revo-
lutionary days. In times of war his forebears
We're soldiers and IN times Of peace they went
snto the Church. no fewer than four generations
OF them having been clergymen One OF them
the Observation-Disclosures OF Mrs. Cra1gie,
founded the first theological seminary in New
York State. They were mostly Presbyterians,
while Mrs. Richards comes Of Quaker stock.
With this ancestry behind her, Mrs. Craigie,
every one knows, became Roman Catholic, and
an interesting incident OF her recent visit to
America was her Iecturlng in Morristown, ". J.,
where her grandfather and great-grandfather
were Presbyterian ministers.
English woman than an American,
and perhaps more a citizen of the world than
either She said once: II feel as if each Of the
chief cities of Europe was my native place. be-
cause have childish recoibections OF them all"
AS she grew up Pearl Richards found herself
in circle constituting the highest intelligence
and culture Of England 1t is said that more
debutantes can be met at the home of the Rich
ardses than in any other house in London.
The rarest educational advantages were also
the lot of the gifted American. The OppOrtuni-
ties that others long for ard for want of which
many break their hearts came to her her
brthTighI. She studied the piano with Walter
Aacfarren; for two years She worked at classics
and philosophy with Professor Alfred Goodwin
at University College. London, and for years she
had private tutors in every subject she cared to
take up.
Reared in an atmosphere Of wealth. culture
and affection and free from all the sordid and
neaner cares that veX the mass OF mankind, the
tragedy OF her life was her marriage to Reginald
Walpole Cragie at the age of nineteen She
secured a divorce a few years later and OBJ
tained the custody Of her little boy John
Churchill Craigie. 10 whom she was absolutely
devoted. Ze is young man of nineteen.
When IN London Mrs. Craigie lived with her
parents in their magnificent house at Lancaster
Cate. bur she much in demand socially
that she found II difficult to work there. She
had suite OF rooms in the convent of the As
wanted 10 he free from interruption but most
of her writing probably was done in the rustic
.ecesees Of a Suffolk village. where when think
fnE her work she used 10 tramp the coun-
1rvside for hours immersed in thought
In appearance Mrs. CI<iigie slight and
frail She was not exactly pretty. but had beau
tiful eyes and beautiful complexion. and she
understood the art of dressing TO perfection.
The cvnicism of her books was absent from
her conversation and, although the basis OF her
character was intensely serious. she took
genuine interest in the frfvolities of life, and
considered il q fine art TO skim lightly Ike
rn-o17r-r- mo doenS of a conversational lake"