Stratton-Porter (1863-1924) was a native of Wabash County, Indiana who became a self-trained author, nature photographer and naturalist. In 1917 she used her position as a popular author to urge legislative support for the conservation of Limberlost Swamp and other wetlands in Indiana. She was also a silent film-era producer who founded her own production company in 1924. She wrote several best-selling novels which have been translated into over 20 languages, including Braille, and at the peak of her popularity in the 1910s attracted an estimated 50 million readers with earnings from her literary work of around $2 million. She also wrote columns for national magazines including McCall's and Good Housekeeping. The White Flag is the last of her novels to appear in her lifetime and was serialised in Good Housekeeping beginning in 1923 prior to book publication the same year. Two further novels were published posthumously in 1925 and 1927.