Margaret Mitchell was an American author, who wrote one of the most popular novels of all time called, "Gone with the Wind." This novel was a historical fiction story set back during the time of the Civil War. The story was published on June 30, 1936.

In September 1918, Margaret attended a school in Massachusetts called Smith College. At this time, the disease influenza was rapidly spreading. Classes at the college were cancelled and students were sent home. Margaret's mother, Mary Isobel, who was called May Belle, became ill and died. Margaret Mitchell finished her first year at the school. She went home to take over her family's home.

In 1922, Margaret Mitchell married Berrien Kinnard Upshaw. He left her four months later and never came back. After two years of waiting, Margaret ended the marriage. In 1922, she started working at the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine. She wrote 129 articles for this magazine. When she broke her ankle this ended her profession as a journalist.

On the fourth of July in 1925, Margaret married John Robert Marsh. She started writing her famous novel, Gone with the Wind. An editor for a publishing company named Harold Latham hear that Margaret had been writing a story. He questioned her about it and she denied it. In 1935, she submitted the book to him. It was a hit! He loved it. It was published in 1936. Margaret Mitchell became a famous author. People everywhere were buying her book for $3. They loved it! In 1939, the book won a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

Instantly, she was famous! Her book was made into a movie and premiered in 1939. David O. Selznick, a producer, made this possible. The movie won several Oscars at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1940. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh starred in the famous movie.

World War 2 began in 1941. During the years of 1941 until 1945, Margaret Mitchell worked with the American Red Cross. She died in a tragic accident in August 16, 1949 in Atlanta, Georgia. President Harry Truman, Governor Herman Talmadge, and Mayor William B. Hartsfield were all saddened by her death. Why, you may ask? President Harry Truman said it best. He described her as "an artist who gave the world an eternal book."