PL Travers, circa 1924, source: Wikimedia Commons.
I have just had another 'Irishman's dairy' published in today's Irish Times, Saturday 23 November 2013.
'Mary Poppins - the Irish connection' looks at the links between the author of the Mary Poppins books, Pamela Lyndon Travers (known as PL Travers) and Ireland.
It was through the poet, artist and Co-operative movement supporter, George William Russell (known as AE) that Travers became associated with Ireland. She contributed some of her poems to the weekly arts journal that he edited. Travers' circle of friends in Ireland included others who contributed to the Irish Statesman.
With articles by writers such as Frank O’Connor and Padraic Colum and artists Paul and Grace Henry, the list of contributors to the Irish Statesman is like a who’s who of literary and artistic Ireland of the time. I cannot help but marvel at seeing such a collection of talented people all in the one place. Lennox Robinson, Jack B. Yeats and W. B. Yeats also wrote for the journal.
Travers and AE remained close up until he died in 1935. There's a great interview with Travers here from the Paris Review where she discusses her relationship with AE (among other things).
