Jessamyn West (writer)

Mary Jessamyn West ( born July 18, 1902 in Vernon, Indiana; † 23 February 1984 in Napa, California ) was an American writer who was best known for the short story collection The Friendly Persuasion.

Life

The daughter of a lemon Farmers studied post-school at Whittier College, graduating in 1923 with a Bachelor of Arts. After her marriage to a school administrative staff later took up postgraduate studies at the University of Oxford in 1929 and at the University of California at Berkeley, which, however, did not graduate.

Jessamyn West, who was also involved in the American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ), made ​​her literary debut in 1945 with the release of The Friendly Persuasion, a collection of short stories, 1956 was filmed by William Wyler titled Persuasion.

Based on the novel The Witch Diggers (1951) and the short story collection Cress Delahanty (1953 ) published in 1957 for the first time her memoirs under the title To See the Dream. In 1958 she reunited with the film director William Wyler and indeed as a screenwriter for the film The Big Country.

This was followed by the non-fiction book Love Is Not What You Think (1959 ), the novel A Matter of Time (1966 ) and Except for Me and Thee ( 1969), before she published another volume of her memoirs, with Hide and Seek ( 1973). Published in 1974 by Jessamyn West's anthology The Secret look, with The Woman Said Yes 1976: Encounters with Life and Death again followed an autobiography. Also the book Double Discovery: A Journey ( 1980) carries autobiographical.

Last appeared posthumously from her 1986 collection of short stories Collected Stories.