author
Marjorie Crocker
1895–1972
Drawn to Paris during the First World War, this American writer turned her experiences abroad into lively, personal letters that captured a world in upheaval. Her life later crossed paths with artists, writers, and musicians on both sides of the Atlantic.
1 Audiobook
Over Periscope Pond : Letters from two American girls in Paris October 1916-January 1918
by Esther Sayles Root, Marjorie Crocker
About the author
Born in 1895, Marjorie Crocker is best known as the co-author of Over Periscope Pond: Letters from Two American Girls in Paris, a book built from letters written during World War I. The book reflects her time in Paris doing relief work and gives a vivid, firsthand view of wartime daily life.
Archival and auction records identify her as Marjorie Crocker Fairbanks and show that she moved in literary, musical, and artistic circles from the 1920s through the 1950s in Paris and in Massachusetts. Those same records note connections with figures including Thomas Wolfe and Lead Belly, suggesting a life spent close to creative communities as well as the written word.
She died in 1972. While detailed biographical information is limited, the surviving book and correspondence point to a well-traveled, observant writer whose work preserves an unusually immediate picture of Americans abroad during the war years.