P. L. Travers

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PLT , poet, editor, essayist, critic, travel writer, and novelist, who was born in Australia but wrote mostly in England, is best known for her Mary Poppins books, generally classified as for children. All her life she was absorbed by myth, magic, and legend, both ancient and modern. Her work drew on the legacy of past myth makers and she herself left a legacy for today's writers like J. K. Rowling , creator of Harry Potter.
  • BirthName: Helen Lyndon Goff
  • Self-constructed: Pamela Lyndon Travers; P. T.; P. L. Travers
    She changed her name to Pamela Lyndon Travers, but preferred to be known as P. L. No reason has been uncovered for her choice of Pamela, which she rarely used. Travers was her father's second given name.
    Anemaat, Louise. Guide to the Papers of P L Travers: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, 1991. http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/mssguide/ptravers.pdf.
  • Pseudonym: Milo Reve
    Milo Reve was the name she sometimes used when writing reviews for The New English Weekly.
    Demers, Patricia. P.L. Travers. Twayne, 1991.
    xi, 32, 46,115

Black and white photograph of P. L. Travers playing the part of Titania in Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream", c. 1924. She perches on a log wearing a sleeveless tunic, with vine-leaves in her unruly curls, and flowers scattered around.

Milestones

9 August 1899

Helen Lyndon Goff (later PLT ) was born in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. She was the eldest of three children, all girls.
The Orlando Project thanks Dr Patricia Demers for her assistance with this document.
Anemaat, Louise. Guide to the Papers of P L Travers: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, 1991. http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/mssguide/ptravers.pdf.

By late 1934

PLT published Mary Poppins, the first in a sextet of novels that were destined to become international best sellers.
TLS Centenary Archive Centenary Archive [1902-2012]. http://www.gale.com/c/the-times-literary-supplement-historical-archive.
(22 November 1934): 837
Demers, Patricia. P.L. Travers. Twayne, 1991.
xi

August 1964

Walt Disney released its award-winning movie adaptation of Mary Poppins by PLT in the USA; the British release happened a year later.
The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). http://www.imdb.com.
Anemaat, Louise. Guide to the Papers of P L Travers: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, 1991. http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/mssguide/ptravers.pdf.

16 March 1989

The Aquarian Press published What the Bee Knows: Reflections on Myth, Symbol, and Story, a selection of essays and stories by PLT , previously published in Parabola.
Demers, Patricia. P.L. Travers. Twayne, 1991.
xii, 103
Baker, Rob. “A Writer Worth Her Salt”. A Lively Oracle: A Centennial Celebration of P.L. Travers, Creator of Mary Poppins, edited by Ellen Dooling Draper and Jenny Koralek, Published for the Paul Brunton Philosophic Foundation by Larson Publications, 1999, pp. 120-32.
132
Blackwell’s Online Bookshop. http://Bookshop.Blackwell.co.uk.

23 April 1996

PLT died at her home, 29 Shawfield Street, Chelsea, London, at the age of ninety-six.
The Gurdjieff Society,. “Pamela Travers, 1899-1996”. Gurdjieff International Review.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

Biography

Birth and Family

9 August 1899

Helen Lyndon Goff (later PLT ) was born in Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. She was the eldest of three children, all girls.
The Orlando Project thanks Dr Patricia Demers for her assistance with this document.
Anemaat, Louise. Guide to the Papers of P L Travers: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, 1991. http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/mssguide/ptravers.pdf.

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