October 6, 1895–April 11, 1981

Caroline Gordon was an American novelist and critic. Her writing earned her a Guggenheim Fellowship and O. Henry Award and a prominent place in the Southern Renaissance.

A convert to the Catholic faith, she was friend and mentor to Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, and others. Robert Penn Warren praised her for “enriching our literature uniquely.”

Well worth remembering, as advice for both life and writing, are her words to Flannery O’Connor: “There is only one plot, The Scheme of Redemption. All other plots, if they are any good, are splinters off this basic plot.”