Kirk Munroe

Kirk Munroe
Born (1850-09-15)September 15, 1850
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
Died June 16, 1930(1930-06-16) (aged 79)
Miami, Florida
Occupation writer
Nationality American
Period 1876 to 1905
Genre Children's novels
Signature

Kirk Munroe (September 15, 1850 – June 16, 1930) was an American writer and conservationist.

Biography

Born Charles Kirk Munroe in a log cab near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, Munroe was the son of Charles and Susan (Hall) Munroe. His youth was spent on the frontier, after which his family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he attended school until he was sixteen. He publicly dropped "Charles" from his name in 1883.[1]

In 1876, Kirk Munroe was hired as a reporter for the New York Sun. Three years later he became the first editor of Harper's Young People magazine; he resigned in 1881. From 1879 to 1884, he was the commodore of New York Canoe club. During this time he helped found the League of American Wheelmen with Charles E. Pratt on May 31, 1880.[2] Munroe was the Wheelmen's first Commander.[3]

He married Mary Barr, daughter of Amelia E. Barr on September 15, 1883. The couple settled in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida in 1886.[4] Mary accompanied him on several cruises on the Allapata, a thirty-five foot sharpie-ketch sailboat designed by Ralph Middleton Munroe. While in Florida, Munroe became a noted member of the Florida Audubon Society, and recommended a family friend Guy Bradley to the position as game warden in southern Florida. Bradley was later killed by plume hunters while on duty in the Everglades. Munroe builds a tennis court on his property. It is the first tennis court in Miami-Dade county.[5] Munroe helped in establishing what is today called Ransom Everglades School.[6]

After Mary died in September 1922, he married his second wife, Mabel Stearns, in 1924. Kirk Munroe died June 16, 1930 at the age of 79. He was buried next to his first wife, Mary at the Woodlawn Park Cemetery in Miami.[7]

Legacy

The city of Miami's only tennis park is named Kirk Munroe Park and is located at 3101 Florida Avenue in Coconut Grove.[8][9] The Library of Congress holds the papers of Kirk Munroe.[10]

Bibliography

References

Notes
  1. ↑ A Lost "Psyche": Kirk Munroe's Log of a 1,600 Mile Canoe Cruise in Florida Waters, 1881-1882; Edited By IRVING A. LEONARD
  2. ↑ Oliver, Smith Hempstone; Berkebile, Donald H. (1974). "Wheels and Wheeling: The Smithsonian Cycle Collection". Smithsonian Institution Press. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  3. ↑ Vaux, C. Bower (1887). "1879 - 1883" (PDF). History of American Canoeing. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  4. ↑ Leonard 1975. p. 27
  5. ↑ McIver 1987. p. 15
  6. ↑ Munroe 1930. p. 152
  7. ↑ GROVE ANTIQUARIAN: Kirk Munroe Time Line
  8. ↑ City of Miami Parks
  9. ↑ New Times - Best tennis park 2011
  10. ↑ Kitchens 2011
Bibliography
  • Kitchens, Allen H. (2011), Kirk Munroe Papers / Library of Congress, retrieved Oct 11, 2012 
  • Leonard, Irving A. The Florida Adventures of Kirk Munroe. Chuluota, FL: Mickler House, 1975.
  • McIver, Stuart. One Hundred Years on Biscayne Bay. Coconut Grove, FL: Biscayne Bay Yacht Club, 1987.
  • Munroe, Ralph Middleton and Gilpin, Vincent. The Commodore's Story. (New York): Ives Washburn, 1930.

External links

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Kirk Munroe
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