Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - Invasion of Privacy Case

Invasion of Privacy Case

In 1943, Rawlings faced a libel suit for her book Cross Creek by her friend Zelma Cason, whom Rawlings met the first day she moved to Florida. Cason had helped to soothe the mother made upset by her son's depiction in Jacob's Ladder. Cason claimed Rawlings made her out to be a "hussy". Rawlings had assumed their friendship was intact and spoke with her immediately. Cason went ahead with the lawsuit seeking $100,000 US for invasion of privacy (as the courts found libel too ambiguous).It was a cause of action that had never been argued in a Florida court.

Rawlings used her Cason's last name in the book, but described her in this passage:

Zelma is an ageless spinster resembling an angry and efficient canary. She manages her orange grove and as much of the village a county as needs management or will submit to it. I cannot decide whether she should have been a man or a mother. She combines the more violent characteristics of both and those who ask for or accept her ministrations think nothing at being cursed loudly at the very instant of being tenderly fed, clothed, nursed, or guided through their troubles.

Cason was represented by one of the first female lawyers in Florida, Kate Walton. Cason was reportedly profane indeed (one of her neighbors reported her swearing could be heard for a quarter of a mile), wore pants, had a fascination with guns, and was just as extraordinarily independent as Rawlings herself.

Rawlings won the case and enjoyed a brief vindication, but the verdict was overturned in appellate court and Rawlings was ordered to pay damages in the amount of $1 US. The toll the case took on Rawlings was great, in both time and emotion. Reportedly, Rawlings was shocked to learn of Cason's reaction to the book, and felt somewhat betrayed. After the case was over, she moved away from Cross Creek and never wrote about it again, despite the fact that Cason and Rawlings eventually mended their friendship.