Glass, Maude Emily

Born Maude Emily Taylor in 1897, Maude Emily Glass began writing in her youth, inspired by advice given in letters from Julian Hawthorne, the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne; as a friend of the Wilshire family she planned first a biography of Gaylord, and then of Mary Wilshire, but finished neither project; wrote a television drama based on the life of her friend Ruth St. Denis; did ghostwriting and screenwriting; original member, Pasadena Playhouse; published (under the pseudonym Emily Harvin) her most widely-read work, The stubborn wood (1948), a novel dealing with the treatment of patients in mental institutions.

From the description of Papers, 1912-1970. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 38991490

Biography

Born Maude Emily Taylor in 1897, Maude Emily Glass began writing in her youth, inspired by advice given in letters from Julian Hawthorne, the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne; as a friend of the Wilshire family she planned first a biography of Gaylord, and then of Mary Wilshire, but finished neither project; wrote a television drama based on the life of her friend Ruth St. Denis; did ghostwriting and screenwriting; original member, Pasadena Playhouse; published (under the pseudonym Emily Harvin) her most widely-read work, The stubborn wood (1948), a novel dealing with the treatment of patients in mental institutions.

Biographical Narrative

Maude Emily Glass was born Maude Emily Taylor, the initials of which formed her nickname, Met, and also one of the many pseudonyms under which she wrote. After her marriage to Charles Ray Glass, she led a life “carefree and advantaged, interests no wider than children, books, golf, and horses.” Even in her youth, though, she wrote continually, and those manuscripts were preserved by Emily Glass along with later, published manuscripts. Also in this collection are letters from friends of her youth, among them the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Julian Hawthorne. She later praised his “invaluable guidance in choice of reading matter” and stated: “I feel that any worth my writing has, or may have, will largely be due to his influence and suggestions.”

Also among her earliest friends was the Wilshire family. She corresponded with both Gaylord Wilshire and his wife, Mary, and later with their son Logan and Mrs. Logan (Mary) Wilshire. One of the projects later in her life was to write a biography of Gaylord Wilshire, but someone was already in the process of doing that, so she turned her attentions to writing about Mary Wilshire, a fascinating woman apart from her relationship to Gaylord Wilshire. This project was not completed, but a considerable number of letters from the Wilshires and material about them was collected together, now in these papers.

Ruth St. Denis was another friend, with whom she corresponded and about whom she based a treatment for a television drama. That script and letters from Ruth St. Denis and photographs of her are in this collection.

She had many writing projects, among them ghost-writing and revising books of others. Some of these materials are in the collection. She was an original member of the Pasadena Playhouse. She often did screenwriting--treatments and scripts. Some of these are collected here. She published in 1948 her most widely-read work, a novel called The Stubborn wood, written under the pseudonym Emily Harvin. It attracted considerable interest and was a best-seller in Los Angeles. There is a large body of letters from readers of the book, as well as clippings related to its subject matter, the treatment of patients in mental institutions.

From the guide to the Maude Emily Glass Papers, 1912-1970, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)