Early, Eleanor Mary, 1895-1969

Eleanor Early was born the second of six children in Newton, Massachusetts, on April 27, 1895, to James A. Early and Sarah (Dolan) Early. Her mother worked in advertising before raising the children. Early grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts. After high school she attended Miss Wheelock's Kindergarten Training School in Boston. Upon graduating in 1917, Early started teaching kindergarten in her hometown. Early began her career as a writer by working as a reporter and feature writer for three Boston newspapers, the Boston American, The Herald, and The Sunday Advertiser. In 1926, Early left her reporting jobs to travel, and in the next year she visited Egypt, Jerusalem, France, and Cuba. Following her travels, she published three novels, Orchid (1929), The Shining Talent (1929), and Whirlwind (1930), as serial stories with the Newspaper Enterprise Association.

Early combined her reporting and love of travel by working for the International News Service (INS). As a correspondent, she traveled to the West Indies, Africa, New York City, and Washington, D.C. From the INS, Early moved into freelancing, selling stories about her travels while living abroad in Dominica, Haiti, and Tortola. Early wrote prolifically during the 1930s and early 1940s, and published ten books, mostly about travel.

World War II impacted her ability to travel, and in 1942, Early hosted a weekly radio show, in which she addressed news from Washington of interest to women. Her topics ranged from rationing, shortages, and prices to education, entertainment, and the effects of war on fashion. After the war, Early resumed her travels and writing. She subsequently published her most successful travel books: New Orleans Holiday (1947) and New York Holiday (1950). In the 1960s, Early shifted her focus to magazine articles, and she covered locales as diverse as Kentucky and South Africa. She died on August 25, 1969, aged 74.