Margerie Lowry (née Bonner) was born on July 18, 1905, in Adrian, Michigan, to parents Mr. and Mrs. John Stuart Bonner. Her father was a diplomat, newspaperman, and manager of a wire fence company, and reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the AEF during the first World War. By the end of the war, he had lost much of the family’s money, and so daughters Margerie and Priscilla were encouraged to work. Both girls went into the film industry in Hollywood and did well. Margerie began starring as a horsewoman in Westerns, among other roles, at age 14, after completing only one year of high school. Between 1919 and 1923, Margerie did well enough as an actress that she was able to support herself, her sister, and her parents; her acting career largely ended with the advent of “talkies”.

Margerie was briefly married to Jerome Chaffee, from 1923 to 1925. After her divorce from him, Margerie continued working in various positions in film and radio, including as an animator for Disney, over the subsequent decade. She also wrote novels during this period, though none were published.

Margerie met Malcolm Lowry in Los Angeles, California, in 1939, and the two immediately took to each other. When Lowry moved to Vancouver later in 1939, Margerie followed him. The two were married, after Lowry’s official divorce from Gabrial, in 1940 and remained so until Lowry’s death in 1957. Lowry assisted Margerie with the publication of several of her novels, and Margerie likewise helped Lowry with the many works he began and published during their marriage.

After Lowry’s death in 1957, Margerie eventually moved back to Los Angeles, where she passed away in 1988.