Editing Booth Tarkington (section)

==Personal life==
Tarkington was married to Laura Louisa Fletcher from 1902 until their divorce in 1911. Their only child, Laurel, was born in 1906 and died in 1923. Fletcher, a published poet (and aunt of 1930s gay Hollywood nightclub performer [[Bruz Fletcher]]), was involved in adapting his fiction for the stage.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs.Laurel Connelly, 78; Booth Tarkington's First Wife, A Poet, is Dead |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1957/02/08/84951028.html?pageNumber=23 |website=Times Machine: February 8, 1957 |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref> Her prosperous Indiana banking family is thought to be the model for certain characters in Tarkington's writing.<ref name="Wabash" />

Tarkington's second marriage was to Susanah Keifer Robinson in 1912. They had no children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.online-literature.com/tarkington/ |title=Booth Tarkington - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss |publisher=Online-literature.com |date=2007-01-26 |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref>

Tarkington began losing his eyesight in the 1920s. He continued producing his works by dictating to his secretary [[Elizabeth Trotter]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Booth Tarkington dictating a story to Elizabeth Trotter, 1938 |url=https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/1370 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=Maine Memory Network |language=en}}</ref> Despite his failing eyesight, between 1928 and 1940 he edited several historical novels by his [[Kennebunkport]], [[Maine]], neighbor [[Kenneth Roberts (author)|Kenneth Roberts]], who described Tarkington as a "co-author" of his later books and dedicated three of them (''Rabble in Arms'', ''[[Northwest Passage (novel)|Northwest Passage]]'', and ''Oliver Wiswell'') to him.

Tarkington underwent eye surgery in February 1929. In August 1930, he suffered a complete loss in his eyesight and was rushed from Maine to Baltimore for surgery on his right eye. He had an additional two operations in the latter half of 1930. In 1931, after five months of blindness, he underwent a fifth and final operation. The surgery resulted in a significant restoration in his eyesight. However, his physical energy was diminished for the remainder of his life.<ref>{{cite book|author=Booth Tarkington|title=Booth Tarkington: Novels & Stories (LOA #319): The Magnificent Ambersons / Alice Adams / In the Arena: Stories of Political Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k6BtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT708|date=June 4, 2019|publisher=[[Library of America]]|isbn=978-1-59853-621-8|page=708}}</ref><ref name="newyorker"/>

Tarkington maintained a home in his native Indiana at 4270 North [[Meridian Street (Indianapolis)|Meridian Street]] in Indianapolis. From 1923 until his death,<ref name=Indythen>{{cite book|last=Price|first=Nelson|title=Indianapolis Then & Now|publisher=Thunder Bay Press|location=San Diego, California|year=2004|page=122|isbn=1-59223-208-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LGkIAAAACAAJ&q=Indianapolis+Then+%26+Now}}</ref> Tarkington spent summers and then much of his later life in Kennebunkport at his much loved home, ''Seawood''. In Kennebunkport, he was well known as a sailor, and his schooner, the ''Regina'', survived him. ''Regina'' was moored next to Tarkington's boathouse, ''The Floats'', which he also used as his studio. His extensively renovated studio is now the Kennebunkport Maritime Museum.<ref name="Colby">{{cite web |title=Booth Tarkenton: Collection Overview and Biographical Note |url=https://libraries.colby.edu/specialcollections/about/booth-tarkington/ |website=Colby College Libraries |publisher=Colby College |access-date=17 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ohwy.com/me/k/kebumamg.htm |title=Kennebunkport Maritime Museum/Gallery Kennebunkport Maine |publisher=Ohwy.com |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref> It was from his home in Maine that he and his wife Susannah established their relation with nearby [[Colby College]].
[[File:Tarkington - Jameson Mausoleum - June 2022 - Sarah Stierch.jpg|thumb|Tarkington is interred in the Tarkington-Jameson mausoleum at [[Crown Hill Cemetery]] in Indianapolis, Indiana.]]

Tarkington took a close interest in fine art and collectibles<ref name="obituary star" /> and was a trustee of the [[John Herron Art Institute]]. He made a gift of some his papers to Princeton, his alma mater, and his wife Susannah, who survived him by over 20 years, made a separate gift of his remaining papers to Colby College after his death. Purdue University's library holds many of his works in its Special Collection's Indiana Collection. Indianapolis commemorates his impact on literature and the theatre, and his contributions as a Midwesterner and "son of Indiana" in its Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre.

Tarkington died on May 19, 1946, aged 76, in his home in Indianapolis. He was buried in [[Crown Hill Cemetery]].<ref name="obituary star"/>