Mystery of the Found Author

I stumbled on a book I had bought years ago for DD in a bulk purchase from my favorite ebay children's book seller. I had put it away for DD to get a little older. Well, I came upon it the other night, and took it upstairs to read myself.  Phyllis A. Whitney's Mystery of the Haunted Pool (1960) is marvelous. And apparently, I am not the only one to think it so--the Mystery Writers of America voted it the best juvenile mystery in 1961! I had no idea until I started looking for information about Miss Whitney.  I have seen her name on lots of books in all of our book store treks, and I am surprised that I have never read one until now.

Miss Whitney was born to American parents who worked in Japan in 1903. She lived to the grand age of 104, passing away in 2008. I knew nothing about her, but found all kinds of interesting information at an official web site, www.phyllisawhitney.com   There, you can find a list of her publications of books for both young people and adults. I love the picture of her below; haven't we all typed on a typewriter just like that?

The weather is very cold and blustery outside our house--of course not nearly so bad as in many places in the country--just very nippy. This weather makes staying in with a good book all the much more a blessing. I think we are going to survive this flu thing. I think being inside home together another day with our good books will make us all feel better. 

You are good medicine, Miss Whitney!