# Eleanor Porter

## Biography

Eleanor Hodgman Porter was born on December 19, 1868, in Littleton, New Hampshire. She initially trained as a singer at the New England Conservatory of Music, developing a talent she pursued for some years, including appearances in concerts and church choirs. After marrying John Lyman Porter in 1892, she eventually shifted her focus from music to writing. Porter became a prolific author, publishing her first novel, Cross Currents, in 1907. While she wrote numerous short stories and more than a dozen novels, she is best known for her immensely successful 1913 novel, Pollyanna. This uplifting tale of an orphaned girl with an irrepressibly optimistic outlook achieved international acclaim, becoming a bestseller and inspiring adaptations including films and plays. The character's name even entered the English lexicon. Porter continued to write, producing a sequel and other works, before her death on May 21, 1920, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

## Books

- [Pollyanna](https://samolit.com/books/96535)