Lenora Mattingly Weber (1895-1971) was best known for her mid-20th century girls book series, especially those about independent girls such as Beany Malone and Katie Rose Belford. Weber was an industrious widow with six children, who also had a lesser-known career as a magazine columnist. From 1946 to 1967, Weber wrote Mid Pleasures and Problems for Extension, a monthly Catholic magazine in the mold of the Saturday Evening Post. In her columns, she commented on the social issues of a large swathe of the 20th Century. In the 1940s, she described post-World War II life; in the 1950s she ruminated on the pros and cons of working mothers; and in the 1960s, she addressed Catholicism after Vatican II as well as racism and segregation. Her fans have brought her girls series books back into print, spurring a mini-Weber renaissance of her fiction.
