Thalassa Cruso
Thalassa Cruso Hencken FSA (born January 7, 1909 in London as Thalassa Cruso , † June 11, 1997 in Wellesley , Massachusetts ) was a British presenter and author on horticulture. Through her appearance on the Tonight Show and her gardening program Making Things Grow she became known to a wide audience and earned the reputation of a " Julia Child of Horticulture".
Life
Thalassa Cruso was born in London in 1909 as the daughter of Henry and Mildred Cruso. Her parents were avid hobby gardeners and Cruso developed a keen interest in gardening and working outdoors as a child. Accordingly, after graduating from school, she decided to study archeology and received a diploma from the London School of Economics in 1931 . She was now active at the Museum of London and, as assistant to director Mortimer Wheeler, was responsible for the collection of historical clothing. She later headed an excavation of an Iron Age hill fort on Bredon Hill , Worcestershire . It was there that she met the American archaeologist Hugh O'Neill Hencken . The two married in 1935 and Cruso followed her husband to the United States , where they settled in Boston . The marriage produced three daughters. Cruso now devoted himself to raising her children.
During a visit to her brother in the UK, Cruso came up with the idea of hosting his own gardening program. Shorter television programs following other programs were eventually followed by regular appearances on The Tonight Show , hosted by Johnny Carson . From 1966 to 1969 she hosted her own weekly garden show, Making Things Grow . In the early 1970s, she hosted the household show Making Things Work . In addition to her television career, she wrote a gardening column in the Boston Globe for 22 years and published several books.
Most recently she lived in Marion , Massachusetts. She died in 1997 at the age of 88 at the Newton and Wellesley Alzheimer Center in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Publications (selection)
- Thalassa Cruso Hencken: The Excavation of the Iron Age Camp on Bredon Hill, Gloucestershire, 1935-1937 in The Archaeological Journal , Volume 95 (1938), pp. 1-111
- Making Things Grow (1969)
- Making Things Grow Outdoors (1971)
- To Everything There Is a Season (1973)
Web links
- Thalassa Cruso, 88, Plant Lover Who Shared Her Passion on TV , June 18, 1997, The New York Times
- Thalassa Cruso in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Thalassa Cruso Hencken: The Excavation of the Iron Age Camp on Bredon Hill, Gloucestershire, 1935-1937 in The Archaeological Journal , Volume 95 (1938), pp. 1–111
- ↑ Beatrice Behlen: Beatrice de Cardi, the woman behind the dress , 2016, website of the Museum of London
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cruso, Thalassa |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hencken, Thalassa Cruso |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British presenter and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 7, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 11, 1997 |
| Place of death | Wellesley , Massachusetts |