Thoughts and Opinions

Quotes
“Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.” Mary Chase ~ Harvey

Colorado Authors...Mary Chase
Mary Agnes McDonough Coyle was born in Denver, Colorado to Irish immigrants, February 25, 1906. Chase was raised in a working class neighborhood of Denver. She remained in Denver her whole life.
(It is worth noting here that Mary Agnes Coyle and her family were NOT related to Andrew Coyle, the protagonist in Murder in the Rockies which is available where good books are sold,)
After graduating from Denver's West High School, she attended Denver University and Colorado University (Boulder) but did not earn a degree. She became a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News. She covered hard news in a Model T Ford and she worked as the society editor and wrote a society column. She married another reporter, Bob Chase. Soon after that she quit her reporting job to raise three sons and write plays. The theater was her first love in writing, although she did write two widely acclaimed children's books.
In 1936, her first play, Me Third was produced in Denver. In the spring of 1937, the play under a new title Now You’ve Done It opened on Broadway, but it failed to attract positive reviews and closed down after three weeks. In 1938, Mary wrote Chi House, which was made into a Hollywood film called Sorority House (1939).

Her greatest writing achievement came in 1944 with the production of Harvey which was a smash hit on Broadway. Chase wanted to give the nation a reason to laugh in spite of the throes of WWII. She wrote and reworked Harvey for more than two years and fifty rewrites. Chase won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1945. The movie Harvey starring James Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd is a must-see. His companion, an invisible 6'3" rabbit, is a can't-see, but he is lovable nevertheless.

On a personal note, many actors have played Elwood, including my good friend Ken Seaman. He played Elwood P. Dowd in Doylestown PA and in Denver years ago, but he still remembers the lines.

Mary Chase wrote fourteen plays, three that were made into movies (Harvey, Sorority Girl, and Bernardine.)
She died October 25, 1981 while working on a musical version of Harvey.

Dysfunctional Words The batteries were given out free of charge.
A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.
A will is a dead giveaway.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

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