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Margaret Marshall Saunders was a Canadian author. She 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 tells the true story of dog that has had a difficult puppyhood with many obstacles including a cruel owner. It is told from the dog’s point of view. When the book was published, both the book and its subject received worldwide attention. 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 British Empire (C.B.E.), at the time her country’s highest civilian honor. 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 in 1994 to celebrate the life and story of Beautiful Joe and the achievements of Margaret Marshall Saunders. A park dedicated to Beautiful Joe Park has been established in Meaford, Ontario, Canada.
Saunders’ most famous novel Beautiful Joe, tells the true story of dog that has had a difficult puppyhood with many obstacles including a cruel owner. It is told from the dog’s point of view. When the book was published, both the book and its subject received worldwide attention. It was the first Canadian book to sell over a million copies, and by the late 1930s had sold over seven million copies worldwide.
