Jessamyn West | |
|---|---|
 West in 1954 | |
| Born | Mary Jessamyn West (1902-07-18)July 18, 1902 Vernon, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | February 23, 1984(1984-02-23) (aged 81) Napa County, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse | Harry Maxwell McPherson |
| Children | 1; Ann McCarthy Cash |
| Relatives | Richard Nixon (second cousin) |
Mary Jessamyn West (July 18, 1902 – February 23, 1984) was an American author of short stories andnovels, notablyThe Friendly Persuasion (1945).[1] AQuaker fromIndiana, she graduated fromFullerton Union High School in 1919[2] andWhittier College in 1923.[1][3] There she helped found the Palmer Society in 1921. She received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D) degree fromWhittier College in 1946.[4] She received theJanet Heidinger Kafka Prize in 1975.
West was born inVernon, Indiana, to Eldo Roy West and Grace Anna Milhous.[5] She was a second cousin ofRichard Nixon through her mother's father. Her family left Indiana forCalifornia when she was six.[6] They stayed for a time on an orange ranch (which she wrote about later inCress Delahanty) before settling in nearbyYorba Linda.[5] Her siblings included two brothers and a sister: Merle, Myron, and Carmen. Growing up in theWest Home in the same rural Yorba Linda region as Nixon, Jessamyn attended a Sunday school class taught by Nixon's father,Frank, whom she characterized as "a fiery persuasive teacher." She subsequently commented that Frank Nixon's version of thesocial gospel inclined her politically towardsocialism.[7]
In 1923, West married Harry Maxwell McPherson. They moved toHemet, California where she worked for four years as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse.[5] In 1929, she studied atOxford University during a summer session before returning to the U.S. for graduate work at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. While preparing to complete her doctorate degree, she was stricken withtuberculosis.[8] In August 1932, she entered La Viña Sanatorium nearPasadena. Her chances of recovery were not considered good. At one point, the doctors said she should be taken home to die (an experience she would describe inThe Woman Said Yes). However, she did finally recover, and in 1934 she rejoined her husband who was teaching inMt. Shasta, California. In 1940, they moved toNapa when her husband obtained a job as a high school principal.[9] She remained in Napa until her death.
In 1939, West published her first literary work, a short story called "99.6". It was a fictionalized account of her stay in the sanatorium.[3] She then began selling more short stories to small literary magazines.[5] Her first published novel concerned a family of Quakers living in Indiana, despite the fact that she grew up and lived her adult life in California. Asked about this in an interview, she said, "I write about Indiana because knowing little about it, I can create it." Comparing herself to other authors who created fictional universes, she remarked:
"Roth wroteThe Breast. Would you ask him how he could do this since he had never been a breast?Adams wroteWatership Down. Would you ask him how he could do this since he admitted his rabbit knowledge came from a book about rabbits? ... And thosehobbits!... I am a bigger risk-taker than these others. The Hoosiers can contradict me. No rabbit, hobbit, or breast has been known to speak up in reply to their exploiters."[10]
Her Quaker stories, although shaped by her imagination, are loosely based on tales she heard from her mother and grandmother about their life in rural Indiana.[3] The Birdwell family, depicted in her booksThe Friendly Persuasion andExcept for Me and Thee, are derived from Joshua and Elizabeth Milhous, the great-grandparents she shared with Richard Nixon.[11]
The Friendly Persuasion (1945) is West's best-known work.The New York Times book reviewerOrville Prescott called it "as fresh and engaging, tender and touching a book as ever was called sentimental by callous wretches... There have been plenty of louder and more insistent books this year, but few as sure and mellow asThe Friendly Persuasion."[12]
The novel was adapted into the 1956 movieFriendly Persuasion, starringGary Cooper and directed byWilliam Wyler. It was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Picture.[13] West's memoirTo See the Dream recounts her experiences as one of the writers tasked with revisingMichael Wilson's early screenplay adaptation, which had been commissioned by directorFrank Capra in the late 1940s.[14]
Except for Me and Thee, her 1969 sequel toThe Friendly Persuasion, was adapted into a 1975 television movie, titledFriendly Persuasion, starringRichard Kiley.[15]
Cress Delahanty (1953) is a collection of vignettes about a sensitive and artistic teenage girl, Crescent "Cress" Delahanty, growing up in ruralOrange County, California in the pre-World War II period. Some of the book's chapters were previously published in slightly different form inThe New Yorker,Woman's Day andLadies' Home Journal.Cress Delahanty was aBook of the Month Club selection for January 1954.Los Angeles Times book reviewer Milton Merlin called it "a richly rewarding story of five mysterious, unpredictable and adventurous years in a girl's life on a Southern California ranch.... Jessamyn West never reaches out for spectacular incidents. She doesn't have to, for growing up has enough excitement, amusement and heartbreak in itself for any novel. This is one that you'll remember and that will make you remember."[16]
| Title | Publication | Collected in[17] |
|---|---|---|
| "99.6" | Broun's Nutmeg (June 10, 1939) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Homecoming" | American Prefaces (Summer 1939) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "The Day of the Hawk" | Foothills 1.3 (Fall 1939) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "The Mush Pot" | Foothills 1.4 (Winter 1939–40) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "Music on the Muscatatuck" | Prairie Schooner 14.2 (Summer 1940) | fromThe Friendly Persuasion |
| "The Child's Day" | New Mexico Quarterly Review 10.4 (November 1940) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "The Snow Is Dancing" | Yankee (January 1941) | - |
| "Flow Gently, Sweet Aspirin" | New Masses (January 21, 1941) | Collected Stories |
| "The Stove That Had the Devil in It" | Decade of Short Stories (November–December 1941) | - |
| "I'll Ask Him to Come Sooner" | The Tanager (December 1941) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "The Linden Trees" | The Tanager (February 1943) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "Reverdy" | New Mexico Quarterly Review 13.1 (Spring 1943) | Collected Stories |
| "Night Piece for Julia" | Rocky Mountain Review 8.1 (Fall 1943) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "The Illumination" | Harper's Bazaar (October 1943) | fromThe Friendly Persuasion |
| "Shivaree Before Breakfast" | Collier's (January 22, 1944) | |
| "Tom Wolfe's My Name" | New Mexico Quarterly Review 14.2 (Summer 1944) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "A Likely Exchange" | The Atlantic (July 1944) | fromThe Friendly Persuasion |
| "First Day Finish" | The Atlantic (August 1944) | |
| "The Real Pearl" | Junior Bazaar (Fall 1944) | - |
| "Lead Her Like a Pigeon" | The Atlantic (December 1944) | fromThe Friendly Persuasion |
| "The Singing Lesson" | Harper's (January 1945) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "The Leppert" | Senior Scholastic (April 23, 1945) | fromSouth of the Angels |
| "Pictures from a Clapboard House" | New Mexico Quarterly Review 15.2 (Summer 1945) | fromThe Friendly Persuasion |
| "A Pretty Thing" | Ladies' Home Journal (July 1945) | |
| "The Meeting House" | The Atlantic (July 1945) | |
| "The Carnal Room" | Collier's (July 21, 1945) | |
| "Gallup Poll" aka "The Love Ballot" | The American Magazine (August 1945) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Homer and the Lilies" | Ladies' Home Journal (August 1945) | fromThe Friendly Persuasion |
| "The Pacing Goose" | Collier's (August 11, 1945) | |
| "The Buried Leaf" | The Atlantic (September 1945) | |
| "The Battle of Finney's Ford" | Harper's (September 1945) | |
| "Probably Shakespeare" aka "A Little Walk with Brother" | Woman's Home Companion (September 1945) | Collected Stories |
| "The Wake" | Town & Country (October 1945) | Collected Stories |
| "The Blackboard" | Town & Country (November 1945) | - |
| "Presumed Missing" | Mademoiselle (January 1946) | - |
| "Like Visitant of Air" | Tomorrow (February 1946) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "A Time of Learning" | Ladies' Home Journal (March 1946) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "The Spring of Life" | The American Magazine (April 1946) | - |
| "Grandpa Was Her Mirror" | Harper's (May 1946) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "There'll Come a Day" | Collier's (May 11, 1946) | - |
| "There Ought to Be a Judge" | Mademoiselle (June 1946) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Grand Opening" | Ladies' Home Journal (September 1946) | Collected Stories |
| "The Sump Hole" | The New Yorker (December 14, 1946) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "Horace Chooney, M.D." | Mademoiselle (February 1947) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "Another World Entirely" | New Mexico Quarterly Review 17.1 (Spring 1947) | - |
| "Alive and Real" | Harper's Bazaar (September 1947) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Perigord" | Ladies' Home Journal (January 1948) | - |
| "A Little Collar for the Monkey" aka "A Gift for the Bride's Mother" | Woman's Home Companion (February 1948) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "Road to the Isles" | The New Yorker (February 21, 1948) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "The Heavy Stone" | The American Magazine (March 1948) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "The Mysteries of Life in an Ordinary Manner" | The New Yorker (March 27, 1948) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "The Hat" | Ladies' Home Journal (May 1948) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "Mr. Powers" | The New Yorker (July 24, 1948) | |
| "Summer of Signs and Portents" | The New Yorker (August 28, 1948) | |
| "Public-Address System" | Harper's (October 1948) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "The Pismire Plan" | Cross Section: A Collection of New American Writing (1948) | - |
| "Arma Virumque Cano" | Harper's (January 1949) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "The Beckoning Years" | Ladies' Home Journal (May 1949) | fromExcept for Me and Thee |
| "The Ouija Board" | The Yale Review (December 1949) | - |
| "Learn to Say Good-Bye" aka "The Lesson" | The New Yorker (August 11, 1951) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team" | The New Yorker (September 22, 1951) | |
| "King Midas in Reverse" | Colorado Quarterly 1.1 (Summer 1952) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "Child of the Century" | Woman's Day (November 1952) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Mr. Cornelius, I Love You" | Collier's (November 22, 1952) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "A Few Lines for Mrs. Charlesbois" | Woman's Day (December 1952) | |
| "Breach of Promise" | Harper's (April 1953) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "You Can't Talk About It" | Ladies' Home Journal (July 1953) | fromCress Delahanty |
| "Four Ways to Look at a Horse" | Woman's Day (December 1953) | fromExcept for Me and Thee |
| "Little Men" | Star Short Novels (1954) | The Chilekings |
| "The Battle of the Suits" | The New Yorker (February 5, 1955) | Love, Death, and the Ladies' Drill Team |
| "Foot-Shaped Shoes" aka "You've Got to Grow Up Sometime" | The Saturday Evening Post (March 12, 1955) | |
| "The Condemned Librarian" | Harper's (July 1955) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Little Jess and the Outrider" | Ladies' Home Journal (October 1955) | fromExcept for Me and Thee |
| "The Picnickers" | The Kenyon Review 24.2 (Spring 1962) | |
| "Aloha, Farewell to Thee" aka "Search for Tomorrow" | Good Housekeeping (June 1962) | Collected Stories |
| "The Last Laugh" | Redbook (July 1962) | fromThe State of Stony Lonesome |
| "The Second (Or Perhaps Third) Time Round" aka "In Search of a Kiss" | Good Housekeeping (June 1963) | Collected Stories |
| "For One Golden Moment" | Good Housekeeping (November 1963) | fromThe State of Stony Lonesome |
| "Hunting for Hoot Owls" | Harper's (January 1964) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Good-Bye, Bossy" | Ladies' Home Journal (June 1965) | - |
| "Underground" | Good Housekeeping (January 1968) | fromExcept for Me and Thee |
| "The Birthday Suit" | The Saturday Evening Post (October 5, 1968) | |
| "Mother's Day" | The New Yorker (May 30, 1970) | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell |
| "Up a Tree" | Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell (1970) | |
| "Crimson Ramblers of the World, Farewell" | ||
| "Live Life Deeply" | ||
| "A Man Like a Mule" | The Story of a Story & Three Stories (1982) | The Story of a Story & Three Stories |
| "Babes in the Woods" | ||
| "The Calla Lilly Cleaners & Dyers" | Collected Stories (1986) | Collected Stories |
