The life of Mary Mapes Dodge, author of "Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates," a pioneer in the field of literature for children and adolescents during the nineteenth century, is recounted in this paper--from her childhood as the daughter of a well-connected but impecunious lecturer, scientist, and inventor through her later years as a widely admired literary figure. The paper focuses on four aspects of Dodge's lengthy career as an author and editor: (1) her development as a writer; (2) the evolution of her philosophy of writing for children, much of which she spelled out in a voluminous correspondence with Horace Scudder, the editor of "Riverside Magazine for Young People" to which she was a regular contributor; (3) her work as the founding and long term editor of "St. Nicholas," a magazine for children and young adults that embodied her philosophy; and (4) her efforts to develop a broad range of social and professional contacts with writers. The paper notes in particular her ability to work under pressure; her business skills; the diplomacy she employed to get reluctant authors to make changes in their manuscripts; her editorial relationships with famous writers such as Louisa May Alcott, Rudyard Kipling, and Samuel Clemens; and her willingness to lend money to authors short on cash, offer advice to fledgling writers, and find outlets for writers in appropriate publications. (RBW)