Constance Lindsay Skinner

Constance Lindsay Skinner (December 7, 1877 – March 27, 1939) was a Canadian writer, critic, historian and editor best known for having conceived the Rivers of America Series for the publisher Farrar & Rinehart.

Early life and career

Born Constance Annie Skinner on December 7, 1877, at Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada, to Robert and Annie (Lindsay) Skinner, Skinner later substituted her mother's maiden name for the middle name that appeared on her birth certificate. Her father was an agent for the Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1891, the family relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia. By this time, Skinner was already writing, completing her first published work, In Gelderland, during her teen years. In 1893, Skinner went to live with her aunt in California. While little is known of her childhood, much of the history and many of the novels and stories she wrote in later years were related to the northwest, Canada, and the gold rush.

Between 1902 and 1907, she moved from California to New York City, where she expanded her repertoire to include plays and criticism. She was a regular theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune. While it is unclear when her first novel was published, by 1917, one of her novels, Good-Morning Rosamond!, had been adapted into a three-act comedy and performed at the Shubert Theatre.

Skinner wrote and produced first theatrical production, David and Saul, a biblical drama under the direction of Garnet Holme of Berkeley, at the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California on July 9, 1910. Reviewed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco it was reported that over 1,000 theatergoers attended the production.