The Success of Playwright Mary Chase

Last week, I went to the New Dinner Theatre to see Harvey.  Some of you may have seen the movie version of Harvey with James Stewart, but I hadn't.  I'm not going to write about the play, Harvey, but about the playwright. 

I want to tell you about Mary Chase and what inspired her to write this screenplay, which she won a Pulitzer Prize in 1945.  Mary Coyle Chase was born on February 25, 1906 in Denver, Colorado.  Her childhood revolved around the fairies, pookas, and spirits of Irish folktales told by her mother and uncles.  Celtic legend also influenced Chase's understanding of mental illness.  She quoted her mother, Mary McDonough, as saying, "Never be unkind or indifferent to a person others say is crazy.  Often they have deep wisdom.  We pay them great respect in the old country, and we call them fairy people, and it could be they are sometimes."

 

Chase graduated high school at the early age of fifteen in 1921, and attended the University of Colorado for a time.  She spent much of the next decade as a newspaper reporter. Mary Coyle married Robert Chase in 1928.  She left the newspaper world to focus on her family and her personal writing projects.

During WWII, she was inspired to write Harvey.  Every morning when Mary left home at 8:15 with her boys; a woman would emerge from the door of the apartment house and go in the opposite direction, to the bus to go downtown to work...she didn't know the woman, but she heard the woman was a widow with a son who was a bombardier in the Pacific.  One day, Mary heard the son was lost.  

A week or so went by and Mary saw the woman.  She moved slower now, and Mary was haunted by her.  A question began to haunt her: Could she ever think of anything to make that woman laugh again?  Harvey opened on Broadway November 1, 1944.  It was an instant sensation.  War-weary audiences, many of whom had lost someone on the front, laughed with abandon again. 

Most of this information can be found in the booklet presented to people at the theatre. 

Now, for my take on this play is that it is truly a drama and not a comedy in any way, although there are funny moments.  It made me think of my favorite uncle, Uncle Ray, when he came home from WWII.  He just wanted to be happy, and he never wanted to talk about the war.  I'm sure Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome had been a term back then; he had it.  Elwood P. Dowd reminded me of Uncle Ray, and I loved Elwood for reminding me of my favorite uncle. 

To me, Harvey, demands you to think about the seriousness of this play.  It's not just about an invisible rabbit.  It's is about deciding to be happy. 

Everyone have a great week, and I'll see you next Sunday.

Sandra K. Marshall

http://www.skaymarshall.com
http://goodreads.com/author/show/344821.Sandra_K_Marshall
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Colorado is a Beautiful State

Good Morning,
By my title you can tell, I'm going to talk about Colorado.  Colorado has suffered a lot lately.  First, due to fires burning eighty thousand acres of gorgeous forest around the Ft. Collins area, and then 18,000 acres around Colorado Springs.  Here are some pictures of the damage around the Springs.  This is just a small portion of the damage, and it will take years to rebuild.

The mountains are still beautiful as you'll see by these next pictures.                      

Garden of The Gods

My time in Colorado was spent with my sister and family. We not only drove to the mountains, enjoyed dinners at home and out at restaurants, we went to Denver to see the new historical museum.  This museum will have four floors when it is completed.  There are two floors almost completed, but even so it is well worth seeing. 

When you walk into the main entrance, there is a map of Colorado on the floor.  Two machines can be moved around the map to different locations of Colorado, and you'll learn the history of that spot.  It is a fun way for kids and adults to learn history. 

I took a few pictures in the museum, but I have to admit that I was so fascinated that I forgot to take photos most of  the time.  I would love to post what I have but Blogger is being very difficult tonight.  You'll just have to take my word that this museum is well worth seeing. 

All of you have heard about the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, and I want to add my sympathy and prayers for the families of the victims.  It seems the world has become very cruel.

Have a safe and happy week.  I'll see you next Sunday.

Hugs to all of you,

Sandy

http://www.amazon.com/author/sandramarshall



My Vacation in Colorado

White water rafters in Royal Gorge and picture of Royal Gorge from the bridge

My brother at Garden of the Gods

Hello Everyone,

We arrived back home from Colorado this past week. To say it was a wonderful vacation is an understatement. Nothing is better than spending time with family, eating, laughing and playing.

Normally, I fly to Colorado but this year I droveout so my brother would go with me. It's a

long tedious drive, especially in western Kansas where the landscape is mostly flat. Our destination was Colorado Springs. Once a small town this metropolis has grown and is affectionately nicknamed, The Springs.

The first time I visited Colorado Springs was in 1969 when my brother-in-law's National Guard unit was activated during the Vietnam war. The Springs was a military town then and now. My brother-in-law was stationed at Ft. Carson, and who would believe that 30 plus years later they would return to Colorado.

In the Springs the humidity is low and the winters are mostly mild. My brother-in-law says he can golf there year round. For those of you who think of Colorado as having horrible winters think again. The snows that Colorado gets in the mountains and on the western side of Denver most often fly across The Springs and settle on the eastern plains of Kansas.

By this time you are wondering when I'm going to tell you about my trip. We didn't do a lot of sightseeing, but we did see The Garden of the Gods and The Royal Gorge, both very beautiful spots. You can see the pictures above but they don't do either area justice.

I played bunko with my sister's Bunko group, watched my youngest niece's (5 years old soon to be 6) soccer tournament (four of them in one day), went to cookout for nephew-in-law's birthday celebration and visited oldest niece and family near Denver. We played games like Mexican Train Dominoes with kids and grownups. Every day we looked out across the patio and park at the mountains. It was a great way to start the day.

There is much more I could tell you about the sights in Colorado, but I'm keeping this short today.

Have a great week everyone, and I'll see you next Sunday.

Sandy

http://www.skaymarshall.com/

http://www.eirelander-publishing.com/

Happy July 4th

Hello Everyone,

I want to wish everyone a happy and safe fourth of July. For those of you celebrating other holidays enjoy yourself. In the states, we celebrate the 4th as our independence day from Great Britain and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Flags are flown at half-staff today to honor those who have died in the service of our country and others. President Dwight Eisenhower proclaimed this standard for flying the American flag on March 1, 1954. This year our flag is celebrating it's fiftieth birthday.

Here is a tidbit telling you how the flag should be raised at half-staff. When placing the United States flag into the half-staff position, the flag should be raised quickly to the top of the pole first and then slowly lowered to the position in which it flies halfway between the top and bottom of the pole. When lowering the flag to be taken off the pole, it should first be raised briskly to the top of the pole and then slowly lowered to waiting arms and then properly folded.

Please remember our men and women who are still fighting for freedom here at home and across the world. Pray for their safety.

Next week, there will not be a blog post because I'll be in Colorado where the humidity isn't as high as it is here. Smile.

For those who may look at the TAPPS magazine, my book, ADDICTION is being advertised in it. Sorry but the magazine can only be found in a book store.

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe. See you again on the 18th.

Sandy
http://www.skaymarshall.com/
http://www.eirelander-publishing.com/addiction.htm

Do You Hold Grudges?

Hi Everyone,

We are going to discuss grudges today. Are you a grudge holder? I’m one of these people who explode and gets over it in about five minutes. Now, that can be a good thing, or not. That depends on the person who got the butt end of that explosion.

My hubby used to get mad and stay mad for several hours or a day or two. Early in our marriage, he learned I wouldn’t allow that. If I made a mistake, I wasn’t afraid to tell him I was sorry. It‘s easier to hold onto a grudge after a major fight than to let go of your anger. If I wasn’t able to teach my hubby anything but this one thing, I’m glad it was that it’s not worth it to hold a grudge or stay mad forever. Now, he gets over being mad almost as fast as I do. Smile. At least, he does with me.

To give you an instance of staying mad for a long time, I know a woman who didn’t speak to her brother for twenty years. That one was over money. Many grudges are within families and they can last a very long time. Sometimes, they are over hurt feelings, finances, assumed knowledge that they know something they don’t when they probably only know a portion of whatever they think they know, which is probably not their business anyway, and numerous other reasons.

My family had their share of squabbles, but they still could associate with one another at family gatherings and are always there for each other. We are huggers when we’re together. I know of families who never speak to one another unless they come together for a funeral or a wedding.

My hubby and sister don’t exactly get along, but they do when they get together. I think they are too much alike to ever really get along. He bitches a lot because he thinks she’s bossy. Lol My opinion is that they both are, and for absolutely the same reasons. Sorry honey and sis. You know I love you both. My sister swore she would never let a man walk over her like our father did our mother, and my hubby won’t let any woman treat him like some others have.

Do grudge holders ever get over it? Quite often, they don’t until it’s too late. The woman who didn’t speak to her brother for twenty years got a call from her sister-in-law to let her know he was ill. They started speaking again and they had about two or three years left to get reacquainted.

Once a woman got mad at her niece over some pictures she thought were being given to her. The person who showed them to her intended them for her husband’s sister, and not for this woman. The woman stopped speaking to her niece even though she was told the pictures weren’t for her. Fortunately, someone stepped in and was able to convince her not to stay mad, and she was glad she hadn’t remained mad because her niece died soon after.

When I was a kid, I learned early not to hold grudges. It was hard because sometimes other kids are mean. As I grew older and held a job, it was an advantage not to hold a grudge, and even if I didn’t feel like talking to someone I made myself speak in a normal tone to them. To do that always made it easier to heal our hurt feelings.

Are you a grudge holder? Does your family hold grudges? We would love to hear about the grudge holders you know.

Next week, I will be in Colorado. I hope to post a blog from there, but if I forget you’ll be free from listening to my ramblings for a whole week. Wink!


Have a good week everyone.


Sandy