Call, Hughie, 1890-1969

Montana writer.

From the description of Correspondence to Maxwell Struthers Burt, [1949?]. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 122542287

American author Hughie Florence Call (1890-1969) wrote articles, short stories, and novels for children and adults based on her life on a Montana sheep ranch. Call wrote her first novel, The golden fleece in 1942, followed by four others: Rising arrow (1950), Peter's moose (1955), The little kingdom (1961), and The shorn lamb (1969). The little kingdom is about Call's daughter, Florence Louise "Wezie," who died at age 17 of a sudden illness. The book received widespread recognition as a non-fiction juvenile book in 1965.

From the description of Hughie Call papers, 1936-1978. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 73172819

Freelance writer and children's author.

From the description of Papers, 1936-1978. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 18061622

Hughie Florence Call was born in Trent, Texas on May 20, 1890, to John Hicks Florence, a physician, and Kathleen Best Florence. Her father's work with the state quarantine department and later his position with the state legislature occasioned her frequent moves in childhood to many small coastal and border towns and to Galveston, Houston and Dallas. She received her education from tutors and in private schools, including the present Trinity University of San Antonio. Florence was a feature writer for a chain of Texas newspapers under what was known as the Bagley Syndicate before marrying Andrew Dickinson on May 5, 1909. She was widowed just ten years later with one son, Andrew Dickinson, Jr.

While visiting California in 1920, Hughie Florence Dickinson met Thomas J. Call, a veteran Montana woolgrower. He was also a widower with a young son, Leigh Call. After they were married on June 4, 1920, Hughie Florence Call moved from the relative urbanity of Texas to the isolated sheep ranch in the Rocky Mountains of Montana where she accumulated a lifetime of material for her books and stories.

Mrs. Call began her writing career in earnest in 1936,when the first of her factual articles, "Eavesdroppers in Eden" and "Sheep Bought It" were published. She then turned to fiction with æWe, The Living," after which she ventured into short stories and later novels for children and adults. Mrs. Call wrote her first novel, The Golden Fleece in 1942, followed by four others: Rising Arrow (1950), Peter's Moose (1955), The Little Kingdom (1961), and The Shorn Lamb (1969). The Little Kingdom is about Call's daughter, Florence Louise "Wezie," who died at age 17 of a sudden illness, and is dedicated to Tom, who died in1946. It received widespread recognition, having been translated into Braille and published internationally. It was also honored by The National Federation of Press Women as the best non-fiction juvenile book of 1965. Call's short stories were published in The American Magazine, The Country Beautiful, Reader's Digest, Redbook, The Saturday Evening Post, Scribner's, This Week, and Woman's Home Companion, among others.

In addition to writing, Mrs. Call was a frequent guest lecturer at various schools and taught creative writing both privately and at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. A member of Theta Sigma Chi, The Texas Institute of Letters, and Who's Who of American Letters in 1967, Mrs. Hughie Florence Call died on September 3, 1969.

From the guide to the Hughie Call papers, 1936-1978, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)

Hughie Florence Call was born April 20, 1890 in Trent, Texas, to Dr. John Hicks Florence and Kathleen Best Florence. Call was a fourth-generation Texan whose father worked for the Texas State Quarantine Service, necessitating the constant relocation of his family throughout the costal and boarder towns of that state. During this period Call said her desire to write began to grow as her imagination was stimulated by travel. Kathleen Florence’s concern that her children receive adequate education despite travel and isolation prompted her to hire a number of private teachers for Hughie and her siblings. Call stated that the varied techniques of the tutors gave her a thirst for reading and learning in a way she felt she would not have received in a conventional setting. Hughie passed her high school years in a girl’s boarding school before going on to two years at San Antonio Female College (now Trinity University of San Antonio). She later studied in a convent in Galveston.

On a visit to California she met veteran sheep rancher and former Montana state representative Thomas Jesse Call. They married on June 4, 1919, and moved to his sheep ranch in the Madison valley of Montana near Yellowstone National Park. Here they raised two sons, Andrew and Leigh, and one daughter, Louise, who died in childhood. Mrs. Call enjoyed writing, hiking, gardening and bird watching while living in Montana.

From her place on the ranch, Hughie Call began writing articles for various magazines, including Scribners and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1942 she used her sheep ranching experiences for her first book, Golden Fleece, (Houghton, 1942). Golden Fleece explores the life of a “city girl” married to a rancher and her position as “second” to the sheep. Reprints of Golden Fleece appeared in various magazines, two radio scripts were produced, and she later sold the film rights. Two chapters of the book appeared in Joseph Kinsey Howard’s Montana Margins .

After the sale of the ranch in 1944 and the death of her husband in 1946, Call followed her first book with two children’s books, Rising Arrow (Viking, 1955) and Peter’s Moose (Viking, 1955). Both stories focus on the lives of young boys and were inspired by her two sons.

She left children’s publishing in 1961 and attempted a manuscript based on ranch life. Deemed too “limited” by the publisher, Call re-worked the manuscript into The Little Kingdom (Houghton, 1964). The Little Kingdom is the exploration of the life of her daughter, Louise (Wezie) and how the two women faced life in a man’s world of sheep ranching. It also deals with the acceptance of loss inherent in ranching and how Hughie learned from her daughter’s handling of such issues to accept the death of Wezie. Critics and readers alike praised The Little Kingdom and reprints appeared in Red Book and Reader’s Digest .

Hughie Call ended her career with The Shorn Lamb (Houghton Mifflin, 1969). This work discusses the intersection of three lives on a Montana sheep ranch: a widow who owns the ranch, a doctor with a maimed hand and an abused child. The book examines the perspective of a woman raising sheep in a male-dominated culture and ranching life in general.

Even after her many years in Montana, Call remained a Texan at heart, often referring to her Lone Star inclinations in literary questionnaires and on her book covers. The author returned to Texas in the 1950s to live, but traveled extensively in Canada, Mexico and the United States. She became a member of Theta Sigma Phi and the Honorary Journalism Society and taught for two years as an advanced creative writing instructor at Drury College in Springfield, Missouri. She then privately taught writing for two years in the same location. After the completion of her last book, Hughie Florence Call died Sept. 2, 1969.

From the guide to the Hughie Call Papers, 1961-1968, (University of Montana--Missoula Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)