Clarkson grew up in To­ron­to, Ca­na­da, and was ed­u­cat­ed at the River­dale Col­leg­i­ate In­sti­tute, To­ron­to Teach­ers’ Coll­ege, and the Un­i­ver­si­ty of To­ron­to. For 38 years she taught el­e­ment­a­ry school in On­tar­io. A gift­ed na­tur­al writ­er, she pub­lished hun­dreds of po­ems, ar­ti­cles, songs and sketch­es, and 17 books in 7 lang­uages. Hymn writ­ing was her first love, and sprang from a life­time of Bi­ble stu­dy, per­son­al Christ­ian ex­per­i­ence, and a dis­ci­plined lyr­ic­al ex­pres­sion. Her hymns were pub­lished in A Sing­ing Heart (Carol Stream, Il­li­nois: Hope Pub­lish­ing Com­pany, 1987). At its 1992 na­tional convention, The Hymn So­ci­e­ty in the Unit­ed States and Can­a­da named Clark­son a Fel­low of the Society in rec­og­ni­tion of her con­tri­bu­tion to hym­no­dy. Clarkson’s works in­clude:

• Let’s Listen to Mu­sic, 1947
• The Creative Classroom, 1958
• Susie’s Babies, 1960
• Our Father: The Lord’s Pray­er for Children, 1961
• Clear Shining After Rain, 1962
• Chats With Young Adults on Growing Up, 1962
• The Wondrous Cross, 1966
• Rivers Among the Rocks, 1967
• God’s Hedge, 1967
• Grace Grows Best in Winter, 1972, 1984
• Conversa­tions with a Barred Owl, 1975
• So You’re Single, 1978
• Destined for Glory, 1983
• All Nature Sings, 1986
• A Singing Heart, 1987

Sources

Hymns

1. Amid the Fears That Oppress Our Day (© 1966)
2. Battle Is the Lord’s, The (© 1962)
3. Burn in Me, Fire of God (© 1962)
4. For Your Gift of God the Spirit (© 1960, 1976)
5. God of Creation, All-Powerful
6. God of the Ages (© 1983)
7. O Father, You Are Sovereign
8. Sing Praise to the Father
9. So Send I You (© 1954)
10. That’s the Name That I Love (© 1975)
11. We Come, O Christ, to Thee (© 1957)