Edie Clark Papers

Background on Edie Clark

Edie Clark was raised in a comfortable suburban setting in northern New Jersey but became known for her stories of life in small town New England. Clark's grandfather, Luther Stowell Clark, was a prosperous New York banker with Blake Brothers and Co., and her grandmother Eleanor Sterling Clark was a leader in local educational and cultural life and a talented writer. Luther Stowell Clark, Jr. (1911-1994) followed his father to Princeton and after graduation in 1936, began work as an engineer with an insurance rating company.

Since childhood, Luther Clark, Jr., had in mind to marry Dorothy Rahmann of Summit, N.J., but she was less certain, and after meeting a young man, Theron G. "Tom" Platt, on vacation in the Adirondacks, she was torn as to which to pursue. All three were drawn into the service: Platt became a pilot in the 90th Bomb Group, Army Air Corps, and Luther an engineer with the Air Corps' 3rd Service Brigade. In 1942, Dorothy wrote to Platt after he shipped out for duty in the South Pacific, to tell him that she had would agree to marry, only to learn that he had been killed in action. Dorothy later joined the Women's Auxiliary of the Marine Corps, assigned to Miramar Air Station in California where she processed Marines returning from duty in the Pacific.

After three years' service in North Africa and Corsica, Luther returned home and pursued Dorothy to marry him. The couple were engaged in October 1945 and gave birth to their first child, Christina Hayden Clark, on Sept. 13, 1947, followed by Edie in 1948.

From a young age, Clark enjoyed writing, but as a student at Miss Gill's School and Beaver College, she was more interested in athletics than academics. After graduation, she moved to Philadelphia and worked briefly as an editor with a technical publisher before being hired into a similar position with Chilton Publications, known primarily for their technical manuals, but also as publisher of Frank Herbert's Dune.