Interview with Robert Cooper
Introduction
Janet Evins Cooper, the author of Three Proud Princesses, was born in 1899. A graduate of Radcliffe College, she wrote and illulstrated the book in 1939 to provide extra income for her family. She died in 1943. Her son, Robert Cooper, has resurrected the book as a tribute to her.
The story of how Three Proud Princesses came to be published is interesting, because the author was your late mother. The manuscript lay dormant and unpublished for many years after her death. What prompted you to show it to your publisher?
When Mary Ann and Deric Beil were having supper with us several years ago. I showed them the manuscript of the book. We were delighted when they said they’d like to publish it.
Do you remember your mother writing it, or was that before you were born? Did she ever talk about it?
I was eight years old when Mother was writing the book. I remember it very well. She used me and other household members as models for her illustrations. She wrote the text first in longhand, then pounded it out on an old Underwood typewriter borrowed from an aunt.
Where do you think she got the idea for this lovely story?
We were not strangers to the world of make believe. Reading aloud was part of our daily routine. One book that I believe was an influence is a book of fairy tales called Once Upon a Time, compiled by Katherine Lee Bates with illustrations by Margaret Evans Price. I still have that much-worn and tattered edition. Our long-lost-copy of Aesop�s Fables had a similar layout. The story line was probably polished and refined on cool evenings around the family hearth.
She painted the illustrations, too. They are charming--very much of their time, late 1930's, and reminiscent of the best children's illustrators like Kate Greenaway. She was formally trained in sculpture, though, not painting?
When Mother studied sculpture in Paris, she was already accomplished with watercolor. I have several watercolors that she painted when we lived in the Philippines. I remember imploring her to include the floating drydock that was moored in a corner of Subic Bay. She wisely ignored my request!
Where exactly was the manuscript all those years? In the attic? Were the illustrations with it? Can you tell us about how it narrowly escaped being destroyed in a fire?
After Mother�s death in 1943, Cooper belongings were stored in a Cooper house in Oxford, NC. My father was still on active duty in the Navy; my brother Sam and I were packed off to boarding school. The storage area caught fire and a great deal of damage was done. The manuscript and illustrations and other important papers were stored in a trunk that suffered only minor smoke and water damage. My older sister Caroline came up from Charleston to salvage everything that survived the fire.
The manuscript came to me in about 1960, after I had settled my family in Savannah. I made a few Xerox copies and mailed them to close family members. Since then the manuscript has languished in our library.
This publication is a wonderful tribute to your mother. Don't you agree that she would be pleased at the book's beautiful presentation by the publisher, Frederic C. Beil?
Yes, I know that Mother would be thrilled that her book is now in print. We are grateful to Mary Ann and Deric Beil for bringing the book out of obscurity and for their tasteful and sensitive editing.