Constellation Similarity Assertions

Caroline Pafford was born in Waycross, Georgia on August 26, 1903, the youngest of seven children. Her father was Elias Pafford, a school teacher, and her mother was Lev Zan Hall Pafford. After she graduated from Waycross High School, she married her English teacher, William Miller, and they moved to Baxley, Georgia. At that time, Caroline never dreamed that she would be responsible for shining a light on her beloved Georgia and its rich history, winning a Pulitzer Prize, and leading the way for other Southern writers in American literature. The Millers had a son, Bill, and two years later they had twin sons, Nip and Tuck. As a housewife raising three young boys, she was struggling to be the wife, mother, housekeeper and writer that she wanted to be. She had published a short story and wanted to write more, but her life was busy and by her own description she felt "overwhelmed by the pressure." She thought about pioneer women in her own family whose stories she had been told. Their life was more difficult than hers. "They had something very real, very tangible, yet almost indefinable, that anchored them and gave them faith and courage and I needed that something so much." n 1934, Lamb In His Bosom burst onto the international literary scene - a long way from the "piney woods of Georgia." Caroline's first novel won the Pulitzer Prize for literature - a first for Georgia. It also received the French Prix Femina Award for American Literature the same year. Caroline became a sensation in the literary world, and her life in Baxley changed as well. In 1935 she received an honorary Degree of Letters from Oglethorpe University. She had visitors from all over the United States, and she became a popular speaker for civic andliterary organizations. She often emphasized that women were able to make their ambitions come true. In a time before women were officially "liberated," Caroline encouraged young women to follow their dreams. In April, 2007, Caroline Miller was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame, one of 29 writers who have been recognized. This prestigious group includes Sidney Lanier, Martin Luther King, Jr., Joel Chandler Harris, Alice Walker, Flannery O'Conner, and Margaret Mitchell, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. Lamb in His Bosom is on the Georgia Center for the Book's Top 25 Read List, and is experiencing a renewal of popularity. Caroline Pafford Miller wrote of strong women who overcame adversity, and she is, herself, an inspiration for women: "Don't let people tell you there is no drama in your life, or that your surroundings are too colorless for novel material. If you can't find the novel in someone else's life, look into your own. Perhaps you don't have any Georgia pines to write about, but there is something else quite as lovely in your life. I am certain of that. There never was another you. Write the way you feel it." Caroline Pattford Miller - Georgia Women of Achievement website http://www.georgiawomen.org (Retrieved June 8, 2009)

From the description of Caroline Miller letter, 196u. (University of Georgia). WorldCat record id: 374599768

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