K4101

Literary Arts

Katherine Anne Porter - Journalist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Novelist, and Political Activist

Collins Cover Announcement 

Katherine Anne Porter

This accomplished author was born Callie Russel Porter on May 15, 1890 in Indian Creek, Texas. Her mother died in 1892, and she then went to live with her grandmother, Catharine Ann Porter, in Kyle, Texas. Little Callie found love and stability there, but Catharine died in 1901, and the family had to move constantly and never settled down. Longing for roots, Callie married at 16 but after nine years, she filed for divorce and changed her name to Katherine Anne Porter in honor of her grandmother.

Katherine then worked as a journalist in Texas and Colorado before moving to New York City in 1919. She began writing fiction and learned much about Mexican culture and took four trips to Mexico City between 1920 and 1931. On a sea voyage from Veracruz, Mexico to Bremerhaven, Germany in 1931 she kept a daily log, and based on those writings wrote her only full-length novel — Ship of Fools. It became a best seller and was made into a movie.

Porter never attended college or even graduated from high school. Despite this, she is considered a master writer of prose and throughout her lifetime had numerous short story collections published with the first being Flowering Judas in 1930 and her finest — Pale Horse, Pale Rider in 1939. She won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1966.

My hand painted cachet shows her by the ocean since it was a sea voyage that inspired her best-selling novel. Also, she referred to life's journey as "this brave voyage" so I thought it would be appropriate to have one of her arms resting on a ship's wheel and the other holding a book. The First Day postmark is a beauty and features her signature. The stamp is canceled in Kyle, Texas where she found childhood tranquility with her beloved grandmother Catharine. The paint colors in this seaside cachet all came together in a marvelous manner, and I must say this completed cover exceeds my expectations and has become a personal favorite. I'm pleased to announce my First Day Cover for an excellent selfmade author — Katherine Anne Porter. Collins #K4101 — $13.25.