Barbara Newhall Follett: The Tragic Life of a Child Prodigy

Early Life and Literary Beginnings

• 💡 Barbara Newhall Follett was born in 1914 to literary parents and was homeschooled, showing exceptional talent from a very young age.
• ✍️ By age five, she was composing poems, stories, and even inventing an entire language called Faroo, with a lexicon that filled two card catalog files.
• 🚪 At eight years old, Barbara demonstrated a strong need for privacy and boundaries, writing notes to enforce her personal space.

A House Without Windows and Early Success

• 📚 At just 12 years old, Barbara's first novel, A House Without Windows, was published by KOP, where her father worked as an editor.
• 🌟 The book was a critical success, with the New York Times calling it a "truly remarkable little book."
• ⚠️ However, Anne Carol Moore of the New York Public Library warned that early success could be a significant handicap for a writer's future career.

Adventures at Sea and Father's Departure

• 🚢 At 13, Barbara convinced her parents to let her join the crew of a lumber schooner for 10 days, an experience that inspired her second book.
• 🛳️ Her second novel, The Voyage of the Normandy D, published just before her 14th birthday, solidified her reputation beyond a child novelty.
• 💔 The publication was overshadowed by her father's announcement that he was leaving the family for his secretary, devastating Barbara.

Travels, Education, and Disappearance

• ✈️ Barbara and her mother embarked on a journey through the Caribbean, funded by a book deal, but her father never provided financial support.
• 🎓 Barbara enrolled in Pasadena Junior College, her first formal education, and encountered a man named T. Schultz, who was later revealed to be a fraud with a history of misconduct.
• 🏃‍♀️ She ran away to San Francisco, leading to a missing person's report and a public incident where she jumped from a hotel window, sparking national press coverage.

Later Life and Unresolved Mysteries

• 💔 Barbara married Nick Rogers, but their relationship was strained by her desire for travel and his eventual affair.
• 🚶‍♀️ In December 1939, at age 20, Barbara left her home with $30 and was never seen again.
• ❓ Her disappearance remained a mystery for decades, with her mother suspecting foul play and human remains found near their rented lake house later being misidentified.
• 😔 The exact circumstances of Barbara Newhall Follett's fate remain unknown, leaving a tragic question mark on the life of a brilliant, yet troubled, child prodigy.