Kathleen Hale (1) (1898–2000)

Kathleen Hale was born in Lanarkshire,
Scotland, and brought up in Manchester, England. She had a difficult childhood. Her father died when she was five years old, and her mother took over his job as a traveling piano salesman, leaving Kathleen and her brother with relatives. Kathleen's artistic talent was recognized at Manchester High School for Girls, and she was able to attend classes at the Manchester School of Art and in 1915 won a scholarship to University College, Reading, where Allen W. Seaby was her teacher and mentor. In 1917, Kathleen moved to London, where she won a design competition and was appointed secretary to Augustus John. She developed a wide circle of friends in Bloomsbury, including Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. By the 1920s, she was working as an illustrator of book jackets, posters, and illustrations for children's books, as well as selling her own drawings. In 1926, she married Douglas Maclean, a doctor working in medical research, and settled with him and their sons in South Mimms, Hertfordshire. She originally created the character of Orlando the Marmalade Cat for stories to tell her children at bedtime, and began producing her series of books about him in the late 1930s. In 1941, her colorful book Orlando's Evening Out became the first fictional picture book published by Puffin Books, the children's imprint of Penguin Books. Orlando the Marmalade Cat made Kathleen famous and has now enchanted generations of children. Orlando became the subject of programs on BBC Radio's Children’s Hour, a ballet, and a mural for the 1951 Festival of Britain, among other projects. The last of the 16 Orlando adventures was published in 1972. Kathleen Hale was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1976. She published her autobiography, A Slender Reputation, in 1994.