Bayley, Isabel, 1911-1993

Isabel Bayley (1911-1993) met Katherine Anne Porter at the Kansas University Seminar, where Porter was teaching, in 1948. They became good friends, and Porter encouraged Bayley to write professionally. Her first published story, "The Great White Owl," appeared in Accent in 1954. In 1953, Porter authorized Bayley to work on the marginalia in her personal library for possible publication, a project that was never completed. In 1974, Porter named Bayley trustee of her literary estate; she assumed this position in 1983. Bayley selected and edited the Letters of Katherine Anne Porter, published on May 15, 1990, by the Atlantic Monthly Press. Bayley's papers include correspondence, manuscripts, legal documents, memorabilia, photographic materials, publications, videotapes, and work papers. Her correspondence with Porter dates from July 16, 1948, to September 3, 1980.

For many years a close personal friend, Katherine Anne Porter appointed Isabel Bayley, the editor of Letters of Katherine Anne Porter, as her Literary Trustee in 1974. Isabel Bayley lives in Toronto, Ontario.