CAA Vancouver Members
Margaret Anne Hume
Author of Biography / Editor
Author's Notes
"Just Mary": The Life of Mary Evelyn Grannan
My interest in Mary Grannan arose from happy childhood memories of enjoying her television shows and books of Maggie Muggins. I had never had the pleasure of meeting her or even seeing her in person, but I was always aware that she was from my home province of New Brunswick. My later desire to write her biography grew from an adult curiosity about this woman who had been so well known throughout Canada for over two decades but was now largely forgotten. Since I could not find any biographies about her because none had been written, I eventually decided to write one myself. It was my first book, so I had a lot of learning to do, but my librarian training certainly helped with the research. It was, of course, a great deal of hard work, but a true joy delving into the research, especially interviewing people who had known and worked with Mary.
Why has she been forgotten in most places except New Brunswick? There's really no great mystery to this—it is merely a function of time and that peculiar aspect of the media in which a person is known as long as she is on the air, but mostly forgotten as soon as she is off. My challenge in writing the biography was to make it interesting to people who had never heard of her, people who were born long after her last broadcast in 1962. My task was to capture the excitement about radio and television when both were new in this country and to go beyond that and make Mary Grannan's life story a timeless one of an individual realizing a dream by overcoming a number of obstacles. Her dream was to entertain people, and she achieved that on a grand scale for twenty-three years in Canada.
While telling her life story with as much detail as I could find, I felt it was equally important to include small excerpts from her writings through the years. With the passage of over forty years since her last broadcasts and publications, even those who remembered Mary would not remember her stories clearly. Thus, I have included these excerpts to help readers better understand the nature of her stories and broadcasts. The biography also offers something never before released to the public—excerpts from Mary's personal letters that give insight to the private person behind the large public profile. From the many photographs taken of her through the years, I have selected a large number (as many as the publisher would let me put in the book!) that will take readers on a pictorial journey through her life.
I am particularly happy with the detailed accounts of what it was like for four young girls to play the role of Maggie Muggins. Beryl Hart, Beth Morris, Deanne Taylor, and Mary Long share their thoughts and experiences.
I hope readers will enjoy "Just Mary": The Life of Mary Evelyn Grannan. I welcome your comments.
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© Margaret A. Hume
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Updated: April 2, 2008