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Mollie Gillen, 1908–2009

The following article by Sandra Martin appears in today’s Globe and Mail, concerning Mollie Gillen, author of The Wheel of Things: The Life of L.M. Montgomery, who died in Toronto on 3 January 2009, at the age of 100:

Mollie Gillen was a war bride and aspiring writer who went on to become the author of The Wheel of Things, an early biography of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

An Australian by birth, she immigrated to Canada from England after the Second World War and began her writing career as an information officer in Ottawa. After moving to Toronto, she worked for many years as an editor and staff writer at Chatelaine.

Her books also include The Masseys: Founding Family; The Prince and His Lady; The Assassination of the Prime Minister; The Search for John Small; and The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet.

Mollie Gillen was born Mollie Woolnough, on Nov. 1, 1908, in Sydney, Australia. She died on Jan. 3, 2009, in Scarborough General Hospital in Toronto. She was 100. She is survived by her daughter, Barbara Gillen. She also leaves a sister, and her extended family.

Please click here for the full article. A full obituary should appear soon.