LaVyrle Spencer Papers

Elementos de identidade

Código de referência

105

Nome e localização da entidade custodiadora

Nível de descrição

Coleção

Título

LaVyrle Spencer Papers

Data(s)

  • 1980-1997 (Produção)

Dimensão

14.7 linear feet [44 boxes]

Nome do produtor

(1943-)

História biográfica

LaVyrle Kulick Spencer was born on July 17, 1943, in Browerville, Minnesota, to Jan and Louis Kulick. After her parents divorced, LaVyrle and her sister moved to Alexandria, Minnesota, with mother Jan.

Soon after graduation from the Staples High School in Staples, Minnesota, LaVyrle married her high school sweetheart Dan Spencer on February 10, 1962. They had two children: Amy Elizabeth and Beth Adair, who passed away in 1990.

Living in the Twin Cities since just after their wedding, Spencer’s first job outside the home was as an instructional aid at the Osseo junior high school in Osseo, Minnesota. During that time, she read the romance novel The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss, a trend setting book that sold millions of copies. In an interview in 1979, Spencer said that Woodiwiss book “broke the barrier by allowing romantic novelists, most of whom were women, to write tastefully but explicitly about sex.” Spencer began her writing career in July 1976, basing her story on a dream she had about her grandmother’s life on a Minnesota farm. Spencer was assisted by Woodiwiss to get that tale published. Her first book, The Fulfillment, was made available in 1979.

Until her retirement in 1997 at the height of her career, Spencer published 24 books. Four were adapted into television movies: The Fulfillment of Mary Gray (based on her book The Fulfillment) (1989), Morning Glory (1993), Home Song (1996), and Family Blessings (1998). Well known Hollywood actors and actresses appeared in the adaptations including Cheryl Ladd, Christopher Reeve, Lynda Carter, and Pam Grier.

Spencer was elected to the Romance Writers of America’s Hall of Fame. Many of Spencer’s books have been New York Times bestsellers.

Spencer’s books are:

The Fulfillment (1979)

The Endearment (1982)

Forsaking All Others (1982)

Hummingbird (1983)

A Promise to Cherish (1983)

The Hellion (1984)

Sweet Memories (1984)

Twice Loved (1984)

Separate Beds (1985)

Spring Fancy (1985)

A Heart Speaks (1986)

The Gamble (1987)

Years (1987)

Vows (1988)

Morning Glory (1989)

Bitter Sweet (1990)

Forgiving (1991)

Bygones (1992)

November of the Heart (1993)

Family Blessings (1994)

Home Song (1995)

That Camden Summer (1996)

Then Came Heaven (1997)

Small Town Girl (1997)

Elementos de conteúdo e estrutura

Âmbito e conteúdo

The papers of LaVyrle Spencer contain various drafts of nearly all of her published books. Published books with papers contained in this collection include The Endearment (1982), Hummingbird (1983), A Promise to Cherish (1983), The Hellion (1984), Sweet Memories (1984), Twice Loved (1984), Separate Beds (1985), Spring Fancy (1985), The Gamble (1987), Years (1987), Vows (1988), Morning Glory (1989), Bitter Sweet (1990), Forgiving (1991), Bygones (1992), November of the Heart (1993), Family Blessings (1994), Home Song (1995), That Camden Summer (1996), Then Came Heaven (1997), and Small Town Girl (1997).

The papers show the evolution of the writing of the books, demonstrating how Spencer created, crafted, and revised the stories over time.

Series 1: Miscellaneous

This series contains a small amount of material related to Spencer’s life as well as fan mail.

Series 2: Published Works

The series contains drafts of many of Spencer’s published books. Many of the books, especially those early in Spencer’s writing career, have more than one draft. These include original typescripts with handwritten revisions and other corrections, copy-edited manuscripts, and, often times, author galleys.

Series 3: Foreign Language Books

Contained in this series are foreign language translations of many of Spencer’s novels. Languages include Spanish, Polish, and German. These are not accessible through the online catalog.

Sistema de arranjo

The materials are organized in three series. The first series contains a small amount of material related to Spencer’s life as well as fan mail.

Series two is organized chronologically by publication date of Spencer’s books.

Series three is also organized chronologically by publication date of Spencer’s books, then listed by foreign language.

Records are located at 21G.1a-7f, 22G.1a, and 1B.5b.

Condições de acesso e uso dos elementos

Condições de acesso

There are no access restrictions.

Acesso físico

Acesso técnico

Condiçoes de reprodução

Permission to publish must be secured from the copyright holder.

The LRS dean or designee may authorize short quotations from any unrestricted materials. Long quotations (over five lines) may be made only with the donor's express permission. After the donor's death, all quotations may be authorized by St. Cloud State University.

Idiomas do material

  • inglês

Escrita do material

    Notas ao idioma e script

    Instrumentos de descrição

    Elementos de aquisição e avaliação

    História custodial

    Fonte imediata de aquisição

    Donation

    Informações de avaliação, seleção e eliminação

    Incorporações

    Additional donations were given though dates are unknown.

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    Existência e localização de originais

    Existência e localização de cópias

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    Descrições relacionadas

    Elemento de notas

    Nota geral

    The published books that were part of this collection were removed. Those that were autographed were added to Rare Books. Those not autographed were moved to the circulating collection in the St. Cloud State library, if they were not already part of the collection.

    Notas especializadas

    Identificador(es) alternativo(s)

    Elemento de controle de descrição

    Regras ou convenções

    Fontes utilizadas

    Nota do arquivista

    Tom Steman minimally rearranged the existing order of material in June 2014.

    Pontos de acesso

    Pontos de acesso - Assuntos

    Pontos de acesso - Locais

    Pontos de acesso - Nomes

    Pontos de acesso de género

    Área de ingresso