Helen Churchill Candee - First World War, Asian Travel and Later Life

First World War, Asian Travel and Later Life

During World War I, Candee worked as a nurse in Rome and Milan under the auspices of the Italian Red Cross which decorated her for her service. One of her patients in Milan was Ernest Hemingway. After the war, she traveled to Japan, China, Indonesia and Cambodia, and her adventures became the basis for two of her most celebrated books, Angkor the Magnificent (1924) and New Journeys in Old Asia (1927). Candee was honored by the French government and the King of Cambodia for these works; she was also commanded to give a reading of Angkor to King George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace.

Angkor the Magnificent was the first major English-language study of the ruins of the ancient Khmer temple Angkor Wat and its environs. Called the "Lost City" or the "Wonder City," Angkor Wat is considered one of the great man-made wonders of the world. Largely unknown to Westerners until the publication of Candee's book, its popularity laid groundwork for the modern tourist market in Cambodia. On Candee's initial southeast Asian trips in 1922-23 she was accompanied by her son, Harry, with whom she trekked through the then dangerous jungles with their native guide, riding atop the great elephant she named "Effie." On later visits, the author was joined by her friend and collaborator, illustrator Lucille Douglas. Although The Tapestry Book was the most lucrative book Candee wrote, Angkor the Magnificent was the most acclaimed.

The success of Angkor and New Journeys led to a prosperous secondary career for Candee as a lecturer on the Far East, while her work as a journalist continued apace. She was briefly Paris editor for Arts & Decoration (1920–21), and remained on that publication's editorial advisory staff for several years.

In 1925, Candee was among the nine founding members of the Society of Woman Geographers. As late as 1935-36, when she was almost 80, Candee was still traveling abroad, writing articles for National Geographic magazine. Her first books on interior design The Tapestry Book and Decorative Styles and Periods were re-released in 1935 and 1938 respectively, the former in a collectible boxed issue.

Helen Churchill Candee died at age 90 in 1949 at her summer cottage at York Harbor, Maine.