The Life of Fredelle Maynard
“"She had great flair," says Toronto writer and friend Val Ross. "She was very much a grande dame. When she found out she had brain cancer, she didn't go into a depression. She decided to have a party."” Described in her obituary. I picked this quote because it sums up the kind of person that Fredelle Maynard was according to one of her friends.
Fredelle Maynard was a famous author, most well-known for her autobiography, Raisins and Almonds. The autobiography is of interest to me because Maynard was Jewish, and she goes into detail about what it is like being raised Jewish, in a non-Jewish area. I grew up in a rather small Jewish community, and after having spent much of my life there, when I do venture outside of that environment, I feel less comfortable about my roots, and therefore understand what it must have been like for her when she was growing up, feeling like an outsider.
Fredelle Maynard was born in 1922 in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. Maynard grew up in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Maynard’s family moved to Winnipeg when she was only nine years old. Click here to learn more background information.
Maynard got her B.A. in English from the University of Manitoba. She got her Master’s Degree in English from the University of Toronto. And, Maynard got her PHD from Harvard in English Literature in 1947. Maynard spend much of her life in various provinces of Canada.
In 1948, Maynard married her old professor, Max Maynard. Max and Fredelle had two daughters.
Maynard’s first book was , Raisins and Almonds, which depicted what it was like being raised Jewish, among many non-Jews. Two years after the book was published in 1972, she divorced Max. Maynard wrote her last book, Tree of Life, a sequel to Raisins and Almonds, in 1988. This book described the next chapter of her life, which included her difficult marriage to Max.
Maynard was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1989. She died on October 3rd, 1989. Maynard was a rather accomplished Canadian journalist, who will never be forgotten.
I recommend that you all check out the edited excerpt from Raisins and Almonds.
Here is a list of some of her most famous works:
1. Raisins and Almonds
2. Tree of Life
3. Guiding Your Child to a More Creative Life
4. The Child Care Crisis
Sources:
1. http://find.galegroup.com/itx/retrieve.do?subjectParam=&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T004&sgCurrentPosition=&subjectAction=&prodId=CPI&docId=A164731146&searchId=R3&bucketSubId=&userGroupName=vol_b92b&docLevel=&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale(en,,):FQE=(KE,None,16)Fredelle+Maynard$&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=2
2.University of Manitoba. Archives & Special Collections. http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/collections/complete_holdings/rad/mss/maynard.shtml
3. http://find.galegroup.com/itx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C16%29Fredelle+Maynard%24&sgHitCountType=None&inPS=true&sort=DateDescend&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T002&prodId=CPI&searchId=R3¤tPosition=1&userGroupName=vol_b92b&docId=A30191101&docType=IAC
4. Amazon.Com http://www.amazon.com/Raisins-almonds-Fredelle-Bruser-Maynard/dp/B0006D0ED4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/002-2665534-5183252?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190140689&sr=8-3