9th August PL Travers

On this date in 1899 P. L. Travers (Helen Lyndon Goff), writer, creator of Mary Poppins, was born. 10 facts about her:

1. Her real name was Helen Lyndon Goff, known as Lyndon to her family.
2. She was an actress as well as a writer, using Pamela Lyndon Travers as her stage name. Travers was her father's name.
3. She was a big fan of J.M. Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan, and her first publisher was Peter Llewelyn Davies, Barrie's adopted son, widely regarded as the model for Peter Pan.
4. Travers was very interested in mythology, and spent two summers living among the Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo peoples studying their mythology and folklore.
5. She also studied Zen mysticism in Japan.
6. At the age of 40, she adopted a son, Camillus, who was one of seven grandchildren of W.B. Yeats's biographer. Camillus had a twin brother, Anthony, but Travers only took one of the twins, on advice from an astrologer. Camillus had no idea he had a brother until he was 17, and his brother arrived at their house, drunk and demanding to see his twin. After a row with his adopted mother, Camillus went and found his brother in a pub on King's Road.
7. The inspiration for Mary Poppins may have been Travers's great aunt, Helen Morehead, who used to say 'Spit spot, into bed'.
8. Although there were several Mary Poppins novels, only one was made into a film. The rest never were, because Travers hated the Disney film, especially the animation, and refused to allow Disney to make any more.
9. She also wrote a number of non-fiction books, including What the Bee Knows: Reflections on Myth, Symbol and Story.
10. She died aged 96, according to her grandchildren, "loving no one and with no one loving her".