Discover the Unbelievable: Top 10 Fun Facts About Margaret Mitchell You Never Knew!

1. Irish Roots and Feisty Lineage

Who knew Margaret Mitchell had such a "green" thumb in her family tree? Yep, as surprising as it may seem, our beloved "Gone with the Wind" author shares her roots with some tip-top Irish folks: Margaret's great-grandfather, Phillip Fitzgerald, hailed from County Tipperary in Ireland before immigrating to Georgia. He married Eleanor McGhan, and their daughter Annie (a real-life Scarlett O'Hara in the making) eventually brought forth the mother of Margaret herself, May Belle, who went on to found the League of Women Voters – talk about some feisty family lineage! Yet, despite this Irish connection, Mitchell's portrayal of the Irish in her classic novel isn't always the most flattering, echoing the unfortunate reality of their societal standing in the South at that time.
Source => irishamerica.com

2. Antebellum Atlanta's Hefty Price Tag

In a budgetary whirlwind that even Scarlett O'Hara could hardly fathom, antebellum Atlanta came with a hefty price tag: Gone With the Wind's production costs soared to a staggering $3.7 million, including overhead expenses like printing, advertising, and distribution, but its premiere debut managed to rake in an impressive $14 million at the box office in just its first year.
Source => newtownbee.com

Did you know Harper Lee was on track to become a lawyer before she traded it for a writing career and created the iconic character Atticus Finch? Discover more intriguing facts about her life!

=> Fun Facts about Harper-Lee

3. Secretive Second Marriage and a Literary Masterpiece

Once upon a secretive second marriage, a southern belle penned a dramatic tale of epic proportions, reaching new heights of acclaim like a Confederate soldier's waistline on a steady diet of Southern hospitality: Margaret Mitchell spent ten years writing her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Gone With the Wind, in complete secrecy, only to become one of history's best-selling authors with over 30 million copies sold worldwide and a not-so-hankered after fame that left her swearing off the written word for life.
Source => bookandpaperarts.com

4. An Accident That Changed American Literature

Talk about putting a foot in your mouth, or perhaps, not being able to! Margaret Mitchell had a little tumble that redefined American literature: She penned "Gone with the Wind" while recovering from a horse-riding accident in North Carolina that caused her such a severe ankle injury she couldn't return to work as a journalist, leading her husband to gift her a typewriter to fill the hours while she healed.
Source => npr.org

5. Margaret Mitchell's Spy Routine

In a twist worthy of a southern soap opera, Margaret Mitchell adopted the ultimate spy routine to conceal her literary pursuits: she would cleverly cover her work with a towel whenever unexpected guests arrived on the scene. The great reveal: The day a doubtful friend challenged her commitment as a writer, Mitchell unveiled her secret manuscript that would later go on to become the iconic bestselling novel "Gone With the Wind."
Source => georgiaencyclopedia.org

6. Crafting a Classic with a Remington Typewriter

From Remington rumbles to Southern epics: Margaret Mitchell crafted the Civil War classic "Gone with the Wind" using a trusty 1923 Remington typewriter in her not-so-palatial Atlanta abode, affectionately dubbed "the dump." Coaxed into literary pursuits by her spouse after devouring the Carnegie Library, Mitchell's magnum opus drew from hearsay, old papers, diaries, and firsthand accounts, rather than laborious research, to vividly depict antebellum Georgia.
Source => npr.org

7. The Almost Named "Pansy" O'Hara

Ever heard of Pansy with the Wind? It doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it? Our favorite southern belle almost had a way less fabulous name on her invite to the biggest barbecues in American literature: Margaret Mitchell initially called Scarlett O'Hara "Pansy" in early drafts of Gone with the Wind, before finally settling on the iconic "Katie Scarlett O'Hara" just before going to print.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. Mitchell, the Journalist and Southern Belle

Much like Scarlett O'Hara's attempts to hold on to her plantation, Margaret Mitchell maintained her professional footing in the spicy world of journalistic columns like a southern belle on a slippery veranda: Mitchell, before and after penning the classic novel Gone with the Wind, enjoyed a successful career as a journalist for The Atlanta Journal, with her widely popular column being syndicated in newspapers across the nation, discussing variety of topics and eventually leading her to achieve a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction with her timeless novel.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

9. Restraining Attention, Yet a Rare Interview

Breaking News: "Gone with the Wind" writer issues restraining order on attention - Margaret Mitchell, the elusive author of the literary classic, had a well-documented aversion to interviews, keeping her thoughts locked up tighter than Scarlett O'Hara's corset. Plot twist: In 1937, Mitchell graciously granted a much-sought-after interview to a budding student journalist from her old stomping grounds at Smith College, which was later immortalized in the college newspaper, The Smith Sophian, as an intriguing glimpse into her writing world and contemplations on her success.
Source => ajc.com

10. Margaret Mitchell's Secret Pulp Fiction

Before she went full-on "Gone with the Wind," Margaret Mitchell was dishing out some "not-so-secret" pulp fiction, faster than a scene from Pulp Fiction itself: Our dear Margaret was an award-winning journalist for the Atlanta Journal and secretly wrote "pulp fiction" stories, hiding her collection in a locked desk drawer, never to be shared with the world.
Source => blog.bookstellyouwhy.com