John Mark Whalon[1][2] (June 16, 1886[3][4][a] – September 14, 1956[2]) was an American poet and author, known for his Vermont-themed poetry, opinion pieces, and humorous essays.
[1] His parents were William C. and Rose Kelleher Whalon,[2] and his father worked in the local marble industry.
[16] One of his 1935 poems in the Rutland Daily Herald, "Just Livin' on a Margin",[17] was a rare literary commentary about the eugenics movement then prevalent in Vermont in the wake of the decline of its marble and lumber industries, and about the New Deal's Resettlement Administration.
"[19] The Burlington Free Press wrote "There is said to be a lot of Vermont in a little volume of poetry called Rural Peace by Mark Whalon ....
"[20] Whalon wrote a variety of prose opinion pieces and humorous essays for the Rutland Daily Herald, in his Me Myself – Mostly column.
[27] The Rutland Daily Herald said of it, "There is a lot in it that is pure hooey and was intended to be, but there is more that has the sharp barb of truth and hits where it hurts.
The unorthodox treatment of some of Vermont's most cherished traditions and possessions will not be kindly received by those who are accustomed to the reverent approach.
"[28] The Burlington Free Press review said, "There are amusing pages on the legislature and legislators, maple sugar making, town meeting, butchering day, panthers and catamounts, tombstones and poetry, even the hole in the donut gets its share of the fun.
[38] The couple separated in the summer of 1932,[39] and the marriage was annulled in 1933[40] after Kathleen murdered their five-year-old son Cornelius in an attempted murder-suicide poisoning.