Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Stamp

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the classic tale “The Yearling” has been honored with a new commemorative postage stamp. Ceremonies were held at her restored home, the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historical State Park, in Florida.

Marjorie Kinnan was born on August 8, 1896, in Washington, DC. She began her writing career at the very early age of 6 years old. She attended the University of Wisconsin and received a degree in English. She married Charles Rawlings in 1919 and worked in various locations around the country as a writer.

After receiving a small inheritance from her mother, they moved to Florida and purchased an orange grove. She loved the area so much that she filled notebooks about her experiences as well as those of her neighbor’s lives. She soon began writing stories about the local area that she now loved. Her stories were met with mixed reviews. One mother recognized her son in a story and threatened to whip Rawlings to death for writing about him.

In 1933, she and her husband divorced. In 1938 she wrote the beloved book The Yearling; a bittersweet story about a Florida boy and his pet deer. In 1939 she won the Pulitzer Prize for this popular book. Later in 1946, she was made famous when her book was made into a movie. She went on to publish two more books that were well received by the public.

Marjorie Rawlings died on December 14, 1953 of a cerebral hemorrhage.