Marianne Clay: Writer and Editor

My Editor's Note for December 2006 issue of Doll Reader Magazine No time offers better mail than now, when Christmas cards overshadow bills. And when these cards contain notes, so much the better. Karen Miller of West Olive, Mich., sent a poem from an old children's anthology, Big Talk and Other Stories. "There is no publication or copyright date on this book published by Hubard Bros. of Philadelphia," Karen writes. But, she notes, the original owner inscribed the book, "Presented to Nina B. Van Ostman by her sister Mami as a Christmas present Dec. 25, 1891." And the poem? "Dressing Mary Ann," by Mary Mapes Dodge; the big name in children's literature during her lifetime (1831-1905), she's best remembered for her 1865 novel, Hans Brinker: or, The Silver Skates , still in print and widely read. But Mary contributed more than this beloved tale about an impoverished Dutch boy who saves his country by sticking his thumb into a dike. In 1868...