Prudence Macintosh

Prudence Mackintosh, a writer of both novels and magazines articles, was born and raised in Texarkana and now lives in Dallas where she raised her family. Mackintosh went to college at the University of Texas in the sixties. She wrote and still is writing about Texas womanhood and what it is like to be a mother in Texas. Prudence Mackintosh has influenced the world's perception of Texas and the rest of the West through her humorous writing about everyday life in Texas.

Prudence Mackintosh has three sons who are grown up now that she raised in Highland Park. All three boys are different. Her oldest son is very well organized and willing do anything she asks him to do, her middle son is very disorganized, and the youngest son is very adventurous. Mackintosh supported them in their decisions and always helped them know how to chose right from wrong. Mrs. Mackintosh wrote a story about when her oldest son he didn't want to play football anymore, and how all the other boys made fun of him. To help him, she wrote a story telling how not all boys had to play football to be tough.

Prudence Mackintosh's mother and father were the main influences as she was growing up. She was born into a family of writers, who both worked for the newspaper, her mother wrote articles and her father did editing. Her parents took her to their office where she observed the hectic yet exciting environment of the writers using adult language that children shouldn't hear. So she grew up to think that writing was the job for her.

Besides her parents, Maya Angelou was another huge influence on Mrs. Mackintosh. Angelou and Mrs. Mackintosh grew up only twenty five miles apart, but there lives were extremely different. Maya Angelou is sixteen years older so she started her writing career when Prudence Mackintosh was a child. Mackintosh says, "Maya Angelou's first book, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", was an especially strong stuff for me. Maya Angelous' black childhood experiences in Stamp, Arkansas, occurred only twenty-five miles and sixteen years from her very different white childhood in Texarkana, Texas. Angelou's writings influenced her views on racism in her small town.

An old friend of hers from college became editor of Texas Monthly Magazine. He remembered how fabulous a writer Mackintosh was from their college years. Their first meeting was in a poetry class when he laughed at her name. They became good friends and decided to keep in touch. He had read some of her articles for D Magazine and he wanted her to write about motherhood in Texas for his magazine. She rejected his first offer because her two children kept her very busy. She felt there already are many authors writing about motherhood, but he convinced her to let him be the judge. So Prudence Mackintosh began to write articles about being a Texas woman and mother for his magazine. Eventually, her third baby came along and she had to drop writing for Texas Monthly Magazine temporarily.

Prudence Mackintosh was invited into the Junior League by some good friends of hers thinking she would like it. (Mackintosh) [personal interview] Mackintosh