Marshall Saunders

Margaret Marshall Saunders CBE (May 13, 1861 – February 15, 1947) was a Canadian author.Saunders was born in the village of Milton, Nova Scotia, though she spent most of her childhood in Berwick, Nova Scotia where her father was a Baptist minister. Saunders is most famous for her novel Beautiful Joe. It was the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies, and by the late 1930s had sold over seven million copies worldwide.In 1934, Saunders was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Together with fellow Canadian author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Saunders co-founded the Maritime branch of the Canadian Women's Press Club.Following the success of Beautiful Joe, Saunders wrote more than twenty other stories, a number of which provided social commentary on such things as the abolition of child labor, slum clearance, and the improvement of playground facilities.Saunders died in 1947 in Toronto, Ontario where she had lived for a number of years. She is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.In 1994, the Beautiful Joe Heritage Society was formed to celebrate the life and story of Beautiful Joe and the achievements of Margaret Marshall Saunders. A park dedicated to Beautiful Joe has been established in Meaford, Ontario, Canada.