author
Clara Barrus
1864–1931
A doctor who also became a noted literary biographer, she is remembered especially for preserving the life and letters of naturalist John Burroughs. Her career joined medicine, psychiatry, and writing at a time when few women had such opportunities.
1 Audiobook
Our Friend John Burroughs
by Clara Barrus
About the author
Born in Port Byron, New York, Clara Barrus was an American physician, psychiatrist, and author. She earned her medical degree from Boston University in 1888, worked as a general practitioner in Utica, and later served as a psychiatrist at the state hospital in Middletown, New York.
Barrus is best known for her long association with the nature writer John Burroughs. What began as admiration grew into a close personal and literary partnership, and she eventually became his secretary, companion, literary executor, and biographer.
Her most lasting work is The Life and Letters of John Burroughs, which helped shape how later readers understood Burroughs and his world. Clara Barrus's life stands out not only for her writing, but also for the way she moved between science and literature with unusual ease.