Lenora Mattingly Weber

Lenora Mattingly Weber (1895–1971) was an American writer of short stories and novels.

Lenora Mattingly was born in Dawn, Missouri on October 1, 1895, and lived most of her life in Denver, Colorado. She married Albert Herman Weber in 1916 and was the mother of six children. Al Weber died in 1945.

Throughout her life, Weber consistently wrote. Her first book, ''Wind on the Prairie'', was published by Little, Brown and Company in 1929. From 1930 through 1962 she wrote short stories for magazines such as ''The Saturday Evening Post'', ''McCall's'', and ''Good Housekeeping''. Weber wrote a monthly column for the Catholic Extension magazine, which gave her a steady source of income, which she depended on after Al Weber's death in 1945. Her last book was published posthumously in 1972.

Weber's favorite topics included the Denver area, horses, and teenage girls. In 1943 the Thomas Y. Crowell Co. published the first Beany Malone book, ''Meet the Malones''. Beany Malone became Weber's most well-known creation, featured in 14 books and appearing as a minor character in the Katie Rose Belford and Stacy Belford series.

Weber died on January 30, 1971. She wrote 34 books, including a cookbook of Beany Malone-inspired recipes, and more than 80 short stories (including serializations of some of her novels.)

Until they were republished by Image Cascade starting in 1999, the Beany Malone and Belford series were scarce and avidly collected. A diverse group of Beany fans lives worldwide and discusses all things Weber online. In 2002, Image Cascade published a biography, ''Nonie'', which combined Weber's own autobiographical notes with a biography written by her son David Weber.

Weber's papers are held at the Denver Public Library. In 1969 Weber herself donated the bulk of these materials; her son David Weber donated some materials in 2003. This collection is open for research. Provided by Wikipedia