Lambert - Janet
Source: Zach, Karen Bazzani. Crawfordsville: Athens of Indiana. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing Company, 2003, p 103.
"Literary Styles" -- Janet (Snyder) Lambert was born in Crawfordsville and it has been speculated that part of the reason she grew up to become a well-known author was her relationships with famous Crawfordsville writers. She went to tea with Mary Hannah Krout. She sat under Lew Wallace's beech tree where portions of Ben-Hur were written and watched Wallace paint, and she met James Whitcomb Riley while he visited town. However, being an author was not Janet's first choice of a career. Encouraged by her father, she truly desired to become an actress. Sadly, her father died when Janet was just 12; thus, her inspiration for the stage was sought alone. Janet's mother sent her to college in Red Forrest, Illinois, but she promptly quit, moved to Indianapolis, and studied drama under a Mrs. Ormsby.
According to Liz Leonard's article on Lambert in the August 1994 Montgomery County Magazine, "One evening she went to see a Whiteside Touring Company play. She was enchanted by the star, Walker Whiteside. She was so sure that she could give a better performance than his current ingenue that she went backstage and told him so. Although she didn't get that part, Whiteside was impressed with the little ball of fire and, in the fall of that year, she received a wire saying, "Come at once!" in regards to a new play. The closing town for Janet's first season was Crawfordsville. Her one big wish was to have a curtain call with the star of the show. Somehow, Whiteside sensed her wish, pulled her out onto the stage and handed er a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses. The audience burst into wild cheers and Janet Lambert became a star in her hometown.
In the fall of 1917, when Janet was again on tour and at a New York hotel, her phone rang with a voice from her hometown. It was her future husband, Captain Kent Lambert. After a whilewind romance, they were married and as Kent was leaving for his European tour of service, Janet found out that she was with child. Jeanne Ann was seven months old when Kent returned. Jeanne wrote a wonderful article about her mother in the September 2002 Montgomery Magazine.
Janet found herself caught up in the duties of being an officer's wife, as well as a mother, and her acting days were gone. She becaame quite astute at playing bridge and wrote several hours a day. "Finally it became obvious either the bridge or the writing had to go, so the bridge went," according to Jeanne Ann's article. Janet wrote various things such as poetry, short stories, and articles. One week after her daughter was married, her first book was sold. A total of 54 teenaged books came from Janet's pen and Crawfordsville tallied another fine author!