Stafford, Ellen

Person

Stafford, Ellen

1910-July 31, 2002

Ellen Stafford (nee Elsie Good) was born in Staffordshire, England in 1910. As a small child she emigrated to Calgary, Canada with her family. At the age of 17, she married Lawrence Anderson and proceeded to have a family. During the marriage she lived in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver where she was involved in political activism and theatre. She also wrote in newspapers, from approximately 1933-40, using the name Linda Claire (or Clare). In 1945, Ellen separated from her husband (it was not until 1960 that they legally obtained a divorce). From 1945 to 1949 she worked as a freelance editor in New York for publishing houses such as Dial, Harper and McGraw. Stafford returned to Canada in 1949 and was Editor in Chief at McClelland and Stewart. From 1952 to 1960 she moved to London and was employed as the Editor of Books of the Month. During that time she went by the name of Ellen and/or Elsie Anderson, as well as writing short pieces under the name Solveig Peters. Upon returning to Canada, Stafford was again employed as a freelance editor, while also writing and reviewing. In 1964 Stafford became the public relations officer for the Canadian Book Publishers' Council. She left the Council in 1967 to open Fanfare Books in Stratford Ontario. Upon moving to Stratford she legally changed her name to Ellen Stafford. She remained in Stratford until her retirement in 1980.
At the age of 80, Ellen Stafford published her first novel, Was That You at the Guggenheim?, which was followed by Always and After in 1990. Ellen Stafford passed away in Kingston in 2002.

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