San Francisco County
Biographies
CORA PAGE HOOVER
California is justly proud of its women of learning, ability and accomplishment, and in this classification belongs Cora Page Hoover, of San Mateo, who is nationally known as a writer of prose and of verse. A native of Kansas, she acquired her education in Colorado and as the bride of Howard Hoover came to California, where she has since resided. She is the mother of four children. The eldest, William G. Hoover, was graduated with “Great Distinction” from Stanford University in 1928, receiving the Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from that institution in the following year, and now fills a position of responsibility with the Westinghouse Company. John Page Hoover, a Stanford graduate of 1931, is continuing his studies in the Stanford School of Letters for an advanced degree in history. He has done much original research work in California history and to a considerable extent has already written for publication. Active in the Boy Scout movement, he is an officer of the organization, commander of the Knights of Dunamis, and was the first Boy Scout mayor of San Mateo. The younger children, Howard L., Jr., also a Boy Scout mayor and a brilliant orator, and Corabel Hoover, a capable Girl Scout, are in high school.
Mrs. Hoover is a district officer of the Parent-Teacher Association of San Mateo and a member of the League of American Penwomen. A gifted writer, she is a frequent contributor to the Wasp and Sunset magazines and to other well known publications. She has completed forty-five verses on the Yosemite and has many more in the making. Versatile and talented, the products of her pen have been varied in character but she loves most to write about her adopted state, California. She wrote the introductory sketch in honor of Mary Grinnell Mears for the Child Welfare Magazine. Her “Not Without a Profit,” a satire on Edgar Lee Masters’ biography of Lincoln, is a notable work and has caused wide comment. In literary circles Mrs. Hoover is also well known as the authoress of the following poem, entitled “Robert Loveland Californiaized,” which has been reprinted in newspaper far and wide:
“It isn’t raining rain to me;
It’s raining figs and dates
And prunes and apricots and pears
And oranges in crates.
It isn’t raining rain to me;
It’s raining fields of wheat
And stacks of hay and ears of corn
And nuts and melon sweets.
It isn’t raining rain to me
Nor merely daffodils;
It’s raining fertile valleys,
It’s raining emerald hills;
In raining fields of poppies
It’s raining purest gold;
It’s raining also stocks and bonds
That bursting coffers hold.
“It’s raining schools for children;
It’s raining dinner-pails
Filled to the brim; it’s raining homes;
It’s raining shining rails
To carry North and South and East
The treasures of the West;
The raining isn’t rain to me,
It’s a beloved guest.”
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 102-104.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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