Mary Poole Cranford was a Georgia author, editor, journalist, and social commentator in the early- to mid-20th century. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Poole and grew up in Warwick, Georgia, where she attended Warwick Baptist Church and Ashburn High School. She also attended McPhaul Institute, a teacher training school and then served as a teacher in the Crisp County school system (Bay Springs School) for several years. She moved to Macon, Georgia, in 1937. Cranford became a public relations writer for the Army during World War II and worked as a Secretary to the Board of U.S. Civil Service Examiners. She began to publish newspaper articles in local newspapers during that time. She earned her Master of Education, presumably from Mercer University, and went on to write several books: "When Cometh Peace?" about World War and family struggle concerns; "From My Window", a collection of inspirational essays individually titled 'Letters to Cranford'; and "Behold the Children", concerns about situations in the public-school system. She was married to Carl Cranford and was a member of Midwestern Writer’s Conference, the National Geographic Society, First Baptist Church of Macon, the Business Women’s League, and the Ladies’ Auxiliary to the Georgia Rural Letter Carriers’ Association.