Margaret was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1949, while her father attended his final year at Dalhousie University. The MacLeans moved to Moncton, New Brunswick, where the family grew and prospered during the baby boom years of the postwar period. By 1962, they had five children.
Margaret was a quiet and studious child who loved school, reading, and piano lessons, as well as summer camp, where she especially enjoyed the songs sung around the campfire. With the introduction of television in Canada, she became an adoring young fan of Maggie Muggins, a character created by Mary Grannan.
A top student and curious kid, Margaret loved reading Nancy Drew mysteries, which fueled her imagination. Her detective work around home led to such discoveries as old toys and clothes in grandparents’ attics, and scrapbooks of the royal family and war time letters in her parents’ trunk.
She was involved with CGIT (Canadian Girls in Training) in her youth, and later as an adult, was a leader in Brownies and Pathfinders when her daughter was active in Girl Guides of Canada.
Mary Grannan was designated as a national historic person on March 27, 2018, by Catherine McKenna, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. read more...
Just Mary, Mary Grannan's signature radio program for children was first broadcast on radio in November 1937 on CFNB Fredericton. The program was also carried on CBC for a number of months in 1938, but in September 1939, Mary Grannan and her Just Mary program moved to CBC Radio, beginning a long, successful broadcast run that continued until June 1962. read more...
Just Mary: the Musical, based on the book Just Mary: the Life of Mary Evelyn Grannan, is under development by Helen & Alastair MacCulloch (Optimistic Music Company). read more...
Margaret Anne Hume's interest in Mary Grannan arose from happy childhood memories of enjoying her TV shows and books of Maggie Muggins. "I had never had the pleasure of meeting her or even seeing her in person, but I was always aware that she was from my home province of New Brunswick", says Hume. "My later desire to write her biography grew from an adult curiosity about this woman -- so well known throughout Canada for over two decades -- now largely forgotten. Since I could not find any biographies about her because none had been written, I eventually decided to write one myself."
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Children's author Mary Grannan published over thirty best-selling books from her CBC Radio shows Just Mary and "Maggie Muggins." She had other radio series that were never released in print. In the Just Mary Reader Mary Grannan's biographer Margaret Anne Hume presents a selection of stories from radio drama series Jubilee Road and Land of Supposing.
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Albert Mair MacLean chronicles his family history and his own life story, featuring the gripping details of his experiences as a pilot of an Avro Lancaster Mk III bomber in World War II. With warmth and humour, he recounts his years raising a family and working for the T. Eaton Company. Edited and co-written by his daughter, Margaret Anne Hume.
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