I remember having a conversation several years ago with John Robert Columbo a Canadian author, and Order of Canada member. We were discussing L.M Montgomery, and we speculated that her history was more darker then commonly thought.

It was therefore no surprise to myself when I read that her granddaughter Kate Macdonald Butler has revealed that she not only suffered depression, but had indeed committed suicide.

Here is a news snippet:

The granddaughter of Lucy Maud Montgomery has revealed a long and closely held family secret about how the author of Anne of Green Gables died.

In an essay in the Globe and Mail on Saturday, Kate Macdonald Butler said Montgomery committed suicide. She said there was a note, which she's never seen, but she was told it asked for forgiveness.

Macdonald Butler said it seemed appropriate to lift the secrecy on the 100th anniversary of the publishing of Montgomery's first and most famous book. She was inspired to reveal the truth because of a series published in the Globe on mental health, and she hoped it would help get rid of the stigma of mental illness.

Society has the idea that depression happens to "other people," she wrote, and in particular that it doesn't happen to our "heroes and icons."

Lucy Maud Montgomery published about 500 short stories and poems, and 20 novels, 19 of which are set on P.E.I.

Full CBC Article Here

To me this information takes nothing away from Lucy Maud Montgomery's legacy, and in fact may offer insight to others who are suffering as she did.

Further Reading:

L. M. Montgomery Institute