Mabel Leigh Hunt[1] (November 1, 1892 – September 3, 1971) was an American writer.
She was born in Coatesville, Indiana. She was raised in Greencastle by Quaker parents there, and from age 10 in Plainfield (a center of Indiana Quaker activity), until her physician father died. She and her mother then lived in Indianapolis until she studied at DePauw University in Greencastle from 1910 to 1912. In 1923 she returned to school for a year at Western University Library School in Cleveland, and was a librarian at the Indianapolis Public Library starting in 1926. She had published Lucinda, A Little Girl of 1860 in 1934, and in 1938 she left her position to write full time.[2]
Two of her books, Have You Seen Tom Thumb? and Better Known as Johnny Appleseed, were Newbery Honor books. Better Known as Johnny Appleseed also was included by the New York Herald-Tribune on a list of the best Western books ever written.[2]
Besides Lucinda ... (based on her own and her mother's experiences),[2] she wrote many other works on Quaker themes[3], including The Double Birthday Present (1947), a 1959 article on both Quaker children and Quaker-related children's books, for a periodical You Are Called, Cupola House (1961), and Beggar's Daughter (1963).[2] Her papers include a personal letter from Richard Nixon (who had a Quaker background), in 1960, a year when he was both Vice President and the losing candidate for President.[2]
She died September 3, 1971.[2]