I had to sell my jack and a tire to get back to Denver. He later reported that “I quit my job and went to a mountain cabin to make my living writing. A sequel, Mamma’s Boarding House, appeared in 1958.įitzgerald moved to Denver in 1960 where he tried for a short time to make his living as a full-time writer. Twice chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, it was also serialized in McCall’s magazine. Papa Married a Mormon was very popular and was reprinted in several foreign-language editions, including Chinese. Her name was not included as coauthor of the book because it was written in the first person. Fitzgerald had collaborated with his sister, Belle Fitzgerald Empey, to write this book. He also served on Wendell Willkie’s staff when Willkie was running for president.Īt the time his first book, Papa Married a Mormon (1955), was published, he was living in Los Angeles and working as a steel buyer. He worked in a variety of occupations during his life, including newspaper reporter for the World-Tribune in New York City, foreign correspondent for United Press, advertising and purchasing agent, and bank auditor. John graduated from Carbon High School at the age of eighteen and left Utah to pursue a career as a jazz drummer. His father had a pharmacy degree but engaged in a number of business ventures and served on the Price Town Council for four years.

John Dennis Fitzgerald was born in Price, Utah, on February 3, 1906, to Thomas and Minnie Melsen Fitzgerald. This noted author of young adult books created the Great Brain.

The adventures of the great brain