P. L. Travers

Pamela Lyndon Travers OBE (9 August 1899 – 23 April 1996) was an Australian novelist, actress and journalist, popularly remembered for her series of children's novels about the mystical and magical nanny Mary Poppins. Her popular series has been adapted many times, including in the 1964 film starring Julie Andrews, and in the new and extremely popular Broadway musical which originally took a turn at London's West End. Travers began publishing her... more

Pamela Lyndon Travers OBE (9 August 1899 – 23 April 1996) was an Australian novelist, actress and journalist, popularly remembered for her series of children's novels about the mystical and magical nanny Mary Poppins. Her popular series has been adapted many times, including in the 1964 film starring Julie Andrews, and in the new and extremely popular Broadway musical which originally took a turn at London's West End. Travers began publishing her poems while still a teenager and wrote for The Bulletin and Triad while also gaining a reputation as an actress. She toured Australia and New Zealand with a Shakespearean touring company before leaving for England in 1924. There she dedicated herself to writing under the pen name P. L. Travers (the initials were used to disguise a woman's name). Travers also greatly admired and emulated J.M. Barrie, the writer most famous for authoring Peter Pan, which bears many structural resemblances to Travers' own greatest works, the Mary Poppins series... less