Carolyn Wells
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Carolyn Wells (June 18, 1862-March 26, 1942) was an American author and poet (born in Rahway, New Jersey, the daughter of William E. & Anna Wells. She passed away at the Flower-Fifth Avenue Hospital in New York City in 1942.
She had been married to Hadwin Houghton, the heir of the Houghton-Mifflin publishing empire founded by Bernard Houghton.
After finishing school she worked as a librarian for the Rahway Library Association. Her first book, At the Sign of the Sphinx (1896), was a collection of charades. Her next publications were The Jingle Book and The Story of Betty (1899) followed by a book of verse entitled Idle Idyls the following year. After 1900 Wells wrote numerous novels and collections of poetry.
In addition to her own poetry, Wells was an avid collector who accumulated an impressive collection. In her will, she bequethed her collection of Walt Whitman poetry to the Library of Congress. This collection was said to be one of the most important of its kind, being one of the most complete and containing many rare volumes. [New York Times, Apr. 16, 1942].
During her career, Carolyn Wells wrote more than 170 books. During the first 10 years of her career, she concentrated on poetry, humor and childrens' juvenile stories. According to her autobiography, around 1910 she heard one of Anna Katherine Green's mystery novels being read aload and was immediately captivated by the unravelling of the puzzle. From that point onward, she devoted herself to the mystery genre. Among the most famous of her mystery novels where the Fleming Stone Detective Stories which -- according to Hubin's Crime Fiction IV bibliography -- number 61 titles.
Today she is best known for her light verse, particularly for several classic limericks, including this one:
A canner exceedingly canny
One morning remarked to his granny:
“A canner can can
Any thing that he can
But a canner can’t can a can, can he?”
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