Anne Hart

Margaret Eleanor Anne Hart (née Hill) (October 7, 1935 – October 9, 2019) was a Canadian author who specialized in biographies. She was best known for her Agatha Christie character biographies: The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple and The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot, and for her role as head of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies from 1976 until her retirement on January 1, 1998. In 2004, Hart was made a Member of the Order of Canada for her "lasting contributions to the cultural life of her province."

Life and work Hart was born in Winnipeg and grew up in Nova Scotia. She received an arts degree from Dalhousie University (where she majored in history) and a library science degree from McGill University.

She later moved to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, where she became a librarian at Memorial University in 1972, working with her mentor Agnes O'Dea. Four years later, she became head of the university's Centre for Newfoundland Studies (CNS). Her citation states: "As Head of the Memorial University Libraries' Centre for Newfoundland Studies, she was instrumental in building a priceless and internationally renowned collection of Newfoundlandiana. These heritage books and documents will provide generations of students, scholars and the public with a record of the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. For her achievements as a biographer and for her contributions to Newfoundland studies, Hart was awarded an honorary doctor of letters degree by Memorial University of Newfoundland. Library Trustees' Association Annual Merit Award, for outstanding library trustee, 1986.

Literary works

Sole authorship Hart's biographies of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot were written with the full endorsement of Agatha Christie Limited. The Life and Times of Miss Jane Marple (1985, Dodd Mead) - Biography of the Agatha Christie character.The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot (1990, Putnam Adult) - Biography of the Agatha Christie character.Into Unknown Labrador - an article published in Rediscovering Canada - Image, Place and Text (Nordic Association for Canadian Studies Text Series Vol. 16) edited by Gudrun Bjork Gudsteins. . Publisher: University of Iceland Press. Publication date: 2001/12/01.

CollaborationsThe Woman Who Mapped Labrador: The Life and Expedition Diary of Mina Hubbard (2005, McGill-Queen's University Press) - In collaboration with Roberta Buchanan and Bryan Greene - Biography of the first white woman to cross Labrador. The three collaborators edited Hubbard's diary, and Hart wrote the biography of Hubbard.

Radio CBC Radio Ideas'' documentary: "Into Unknown Labrador: The Mina Hubbard Story", 1998-05-28. This lecture was also delivered by Hart to The Newfoundland Historical Society on January 27, 2000.