de Grummond Collection

McCain Library and Archives
University Libraries
The University of Southern Mississippi



KAY HAUGAARD PAPERS

Collection Number
Collection Dates
Collection Volume
DG0429
1959-1972
.90 cu.ft. (3 boxes)
Biographical Sketch | Scope & Content | Related Collections | Series & Subseries | Box Inventory

Provenance
Materials received from Kay Haugaard in 1972.

Restrictions
Noncirculating; available for research.

Copyright
The collection is protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. Code). Reproductions can be made only if they are to be used for "private study, scholarship, or research." It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials, other than that noted above.

Biographical Sketch

Kay Haugaard considered herself a housewife until 1970, although she had earned a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature. She was married to Robert Haugaard, an architect in Pasadena, California, and they had three sons. In 1970, she accepted a position as instructor of Creative Writing at Pasadena City College, where she was still employed in 1998. At the same college, she has been an instructor of Writing for Publication.

She published several short stories and articles in magazines as well as fiction for younger children. Her character Myeko was introduced in Child Life Magazine in 1958, in "Holiday for Myeko," which was later adapted and reprinted in a fourth grade reader published by The Economy Press. Child Life continued publishing the Myeko stories with "Myeko's Moon Viewing Picnic" in 1959 and "The Magic Kettle" in 1960.

Haugaard has also written books for young adults, including Myeko's Gift (1967), and China Boy (1971). Myeko's Gift was translated into French and published as La petite fille au kimono rouge (The Little Girl with the Red Kimono) in 1972. China Boy was also translated and published in France in 1995 under the title Lee, chercheur d'or (Lee, Seeker of Gold). She faced many challenges in attempting to publish Myeko's Gift and China Boy. Editors were skeptical of the length of the books, the meekness of Myeko's demeanor, and the lack of an uplifting ending for China Boy.

Both novels met with difficulty when they were sent to publishers. Most of the criticism is about the depth of detail in the writing and the lack of a happy ending. The correspondence records suggestions from editors asking her to cut the text by thirty percent, and to change the ending to make China Boy uplifting rather than dour.

Sources:

Scope and Content The collection contains three folders of correspondence between Ms. Haugaard and her agent Larry Sternig. A large part of the correspondence is related to the search for a publisher for Myeko's Gift and dates from 1959 to 1966. Within the correspondence are letters from specific publishing houses and a few reader's reports. It was not until 1966 that Myeko's Gift found a publisher in Abelard-Schuman. There is a reader's report from Clarissa Atkinson at Abelard-Schuman, and one from Franklin Watts.

The collection has two drafts of Myeko's Gift both with abundant editing. There are three versions of China Boy from 1969 to 1970, and two galleys from 1971.

Series and Subseries

A. Correspondence (1959-1971)

B. Books

Box Inventory
Box/Folder

A. Correspondence

B. Books