Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman) Porter

Born in Littleton, New Hampshire, in 1868, Eleanor H. Porter studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and first built a local reputation as a singer. After marrying John L. Porter in 1892, she continued singing for a time before moving into writing.

Porter began publishing short stories and later became a successful novelist. She is most closely associated with Pollyanna (1913), the novel that introduced the cheerful heroine whose outlook sparked a lasting cultural phenomenon, followed by Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Another of her well-known books is Just David (1916).

She died in 1920 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but her fiction remained widely read long afterward. Her work is still remembered for its warmth, optimism, and gift for making everyday kindness feel memorable.