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{{Short description|American writer and conservationist}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. -->
| image = Thornton Burgess newspaper.png
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| death_place = [[Hampden, Massachusetts]]
| resting_place = Springfield Cemetery, [[Springfield, Massachusetts]]
| occupation = Author of
| language =
| nationality =
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| movement =
| notableworks =
| spouse = Nina E. Osbourne Burgess (1905–1906)<br/>Fannie H. Phillips Burgess (1911–1950)
| partner =
| children = Thornton Waldo Burgess III
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[[File:Mother West Wind Where Stories frontispiece - Project Gutenberg eText 17250.jpg|thumb|[[Harrison Cady]]'s frontispiece to the ''Mother West Wind "Where" Stories'' depicting Burgess animal characters]]
'''Thornton Waldo Burgess''' (January 17, 1874 – June 5, 1965) was an American [[
==Biography==
===Early life and career===
Born January 17, 1874 in [[Sandwich, Massachusetts]],<ref>{{cite book|
Graduating from [[Sandwich High School]] in 1891, Burgess briefly attended a business college in [[Boston]] from 1892 to 1893, living in [[Somerville, Massachusetts]], at that time. But he disliked studying business and wanted to be an author. He relocated to [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], where he accepted a job as an editorial assistant at the Phelps Publishing Company. His first stories were written using the pseudonym "W. B. Thornton".<ref>{{cite news|author= Scully, Francis X. |title=Sage of Sandwich Wrote Over 15,000 Animal Stories, Books| work=Bradford Era|date= 24 February 1977|page= 16}}</ref>
Burgess married Nina Osborne in 1905, but she died in childbirth a year later, leaving him to raise their son alone. It is said that he began writing bedtime stories to entertain his young son, Thornton III.<ref>{{cite news|title= Peter Rabbit Creator, Thornton Burgess, Dies|
===''Old Mother West Wind''===
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===Additional publications===
For the next 50 years, Burgess steadily wrote books that were published around the world in many languages, including French, Gaelic, German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish. Collaborating with him was his illustrator and friend [[Harrison Cady]] who was born and raised in [[Gardner, Massachusetts]], and thereafter of New York and [[Rockport, Massachusetts]]. [[Peter Rabbit]] was created by British author and illustrator [[Beatrix Potter]], prompting Burgess to note, "I like to think that Miss Potter gave Peter a name known the world over, while I with Mr. Cady's help perhaps made him a character."<ref>{{cite web|url= http://twbresearchleague.blogspot.com/search?q=potter |work=Thornton W. Burgess Research League|title=Joel Chandler Harris and the Burgess Bedtime Stories|date= February 9, 2010}}</ref>
From
From 1912 to 1960, without interruption, Burgess wrote his syndicated daily newspaper column (via the [[George Matthew Adams Service]]), ''Bedtime Stories''.<ref name=csm>{{cite news|title=Complete Abolition of Steel Trap Urged by Burgess in Radio Address| work=The Christian Science Monitor|date= 3 November 1930|page=4}}</ref>
===Radio broadcasts===
From 1912 to 1960, Burgess also broadcast on the radio. His ''Radio Nature League'' radio series began at [[WBZ (AM)]], then located in [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], in early January 1925. Burgess broadcast the program from the studio at the Hotel Kimball on Wednesday evening at 7:30
===Final publications===
In 1960, Burgess published his last book, ''Now I Remember, Autobiography of an Amateur Naturalist'', depicting memories of his early life in Sandwich as well as his career highlights. That same year, Burgess, at the age of 86, had published his 15,000th newspaper column.<ref name=Hoexter/>
In 1998, Burgess' granddaughter, Frances B. Meigs, published ''My Grandfather, Thornton W. Burgess : An Intimate Portrait'', detailing her childhood growing up under his wing.<ref>{{cite book|title=My Grandfather, Thornton W. Burgess: An Intimate Portrait|author=Frances B. Meigs|publisher=Commonwealth Editions|date=1998|isbn=9781889833057|url=https://archive.org/details/mygrandfathertho00fran|url-access=registration}}</ref>
===Death===
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* "The Bedtime Stories Club" for wildlife protection programs.
* "Happy Jack Squirrel Saving Club" for War Savings Stamps & Bonds.
* ''The Radio Nature League'' broadcast from
For his efforts, Burgess also received:
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===Wildlife Sanctuaries and Museum===
After his death, the [[Massachusetts Audubon Society]] purchased Burgess' Hampden home and established the Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary at that location;<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Laughing_Brook/index.php/ |website=Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary|title=Official website}}</ref> [[Thornton W. Burgess House|the house]] is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].
The Thornton W. Burgess Society operates the Green Briar Nature Center in East Sandwich, Massachusetts.<ref>[http://www.thorntonburgess.org/GreenBriarNatureCenter.htm "Green Briar Nature Center", The Thornton W. Burgess Society]</ref> The Society's [[Thornton W. Burgess Museum]] in Sandwich closed to the public October 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thorntonburgess.org/ThorntonBurgessMuseum.htm |website=Thornton W. Burgess Museum|title=Official website}}</ref>
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* A middle school in Hampden, Massachusetts was named after Burgess in honor of his work for conservation. The school opened in 1967 and was closed by the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District in June 2018.<ref>[http://www.edline.net/pages/Thornton_Burgess_Middle_School Thornton W. Burgess Middle School, Hampden, Massachusetts]</ref>
* In the early 1970s, an [[anime]] television adaptation of some of Burgess' works was produced by a Japanese animation studio and was later distributed worldwide. The English language translation was entitled ''[[Fables of the Green Forest]]''.
* [[John Crowley (author)|John Crowley]]'s novel ''[[Little, Big]]'' (1980) includes allusions to locations and characters in Burgess' stories.<ref>{{cite news |last=Clute |first=John |authorlink=John Clute |date=October 4, 1981 |title=On the Edge of the Other World |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1981/10/04/on-the-edge-of-the-other-world/9b82665e-4ee7-4c84-b2b2-b7521c623829/ |
==Books==
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{{wikisource author}}
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/thornton-w-burgess}}
* [http://www.thorntonburgess.org The Thornton W. Burgess Society] Official website▼
* {{Gutenberg author | id=717}}
* {{FadedPage|id=Burgess, Thornton Waldo|name=Thornton Burgess|author=yes}}
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* {{Librivox author |id=282}}
* [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor=%22Burgess,%20Thornton%20W. Works by Thornton Burgess] at [[HathiTrust|Hathi Trust Digital Library]]
▲* [http://www.thorntonburgess.org The Thornton W. Burgess Society] Official website
{{Authority control}}
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