• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Lost Ladies of Garden Writing: Jean Hersey

February 25, 2023 By Carol 2 Comments

Picture of Jean Hersey on the back cover of her book, The Shape of a Year.

I hadn’t heard of Jean Hersey, our next lost lady of garden writing, until Susan M. left a comment on my post about month-by-month books suggesting I might like Jean’s book, The Shape of a Year (1967).

I quickly looked up this book and decided I might indeed like it. I also discovered I could get a copy through my library, so I reserved it for pick up later.

Then, even though I am methodically going through all my books to catalog them and get rid of those I think I’ll never read, telling myself the whole time that I should not buy one more book, I bought a good used copy of The Shape of a Year.

I’m glad I did because I discovered on the back flap of the cover of this book that Jean also wrote several gardening books.

(Insert the sound of me tumbling down a rabbit hole.)

Off I went to look for Jean on the internet to see if I could learn more about her.

For starters, here’s a list of her books and the year they were published based on my research:

I Like Gardening (1941)

A Garden in Your Window (1949)

Carefree Gardening (1961)

Wild Flowers to Know and Grow (1964)

The Woman’s Day Book of Houseplants (1965)

Cooking with Herbs (1972)

Flowering Shrubs and Small Trees, 169 Varieties for Your Garden (1974)

The Woman’s Day Book of Annuals and Perennials (1977)

Gardening and Being (1982)

She also wrote a book about a trip to Guatemala, Halfway to Heaven: A Guatemala Holiday (1947), another month-by-month book, A Sense of Seasons (1964), A Widow’s Pilgrimage (1979), and The Touch of the Earth (1981).

In 1972, she and her husband, Robert, co-authored Change in the Wind, and in 1979, they wrote These Rich Years: A Journal of Retirement. In 1977, Jean and probably her husband too, wrote Happy Retirement: The Best Years of Your Life!

Why had I never heard of Jean Hersey? Here’s what the internet told me about her.

(insert sound of crickets… virtually nothing).

On that back flap of The Shape of a Year, her biography is short, other than the list of books. “Born and brought up in New York City, Mrs. Hersey now lives in Weston, Connecticut.”

Finding Jean online was not easy. When she passed away in 1997, there was no obituary, at least not that I could find via digitized newspaper archives. On Ancestry.com, I was finally able to break through and find a few records that provided a bit more information.

As always, here is a little disclaimer that I could have found the wrong Jean, but I don’t think so.

Jean was born Jean McKelvey in the Bronx, New York City on September 29, 1902. She married Robert Hersey in 1925. They had three children; a daughter and two sons. This is based on census records from 1940 which also noted they lived in New York City at that time. Her husband was an “advertising manager” who made $5,000 a year, and she was a writer earning $1,200 a year. They employed a cook who made $600 a year and a children’s nurse who made $960 a year. (In today’s dollars with some rounding… $107,000, $26,000, $13,000, $21,000)

I also found some information on Jean in The Once & Future Gardener, edited and with an introduction by Virginia Tuttle Clayton (2000). Clayton notes that Jean was a prolific writer and at one time made her home in Kennett Square, PA, and in 1962 she “was honored with the Asta award for best garden writing of the year…” There is a footnote on the statement about the Asta award leading to another reference which I don’t have access to, so I assume that it is correct, but I have no idea what the Asta awards were and who handed them out. I also couldn’t confirm the part about her living in Pennsylvania. That would take more searching through census records.

My last discovery was a record of her death. Jean passed away on August 22, 1997 at the age of 94 in North Carolina. How she ended up there is anyone’s guess, and why there was no obituary published for such a prolific garden writer is mystifying as well. Perhaps it was published in a newspaper that isn’t yet available to search online.

Regardless, I think Jean Hersey is a garden writer worth knowing, and I’m happy to have found her to add to my list of lost ladies of garden writing.

I’ve just started to read The Shape of a Year and will add it to my list to read month by month.

Perhaps someday, I’ll find more of Jean Hersey’s books to read. Who knows? I might have an undiscovered copy here in my own library. I’ll keep looking!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: lost ladies of garden writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lynn says

    February 26, 2023 at 10:44 am

    Her books sound wonderful, Carol – I’m completely intrigued.

    Reply
    • Carol says

      February 26, 2023 at 10:19 pm

      Lynn, I’m intrigued too, and may have to give in to temptation and find a copy of one of her gardening books!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,054)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT