Marguerite Merington

Marguerite Merington (1857–1951) was an English-born American author of short stories, essays, dramatic works, and biographies.^[1]

Early years and education

Marguerite Merington was born in Stoke Newington,^[2] England, in 1857,^{[lower-alpha 1]} At an early age, she came with her parents to Buffalo, New York where was educated at a convent. Even as a girl, she displayed dramatic talent, and often wrote and acted little parlor plays.^[4]

Career

For several years, she was instructor in Greek and Latin in the Normal College in New York. After resigning from this position, Merington pursued the career of a dramatic author. About 1889, E. H. Sothern proposed that Merington should write him a play, the leading character of which should be a captivating Irish gentleman. With a few suggestions from him, the play, Captain Letterblair was written. It had a trial at an authors' matinee in New York City, and was first presented August 16, 1892, at the Lyceum Theatre. Captain Letterblair, produced by Daniel Frohman,^[2] brought in large audiences and much money, and held a place in Sothern's repertoire. Before it was acted, Joseph Jefferson, who saw the manuscript, praised it highly. Merington wrote other dramas, including Good-Bye, A Lover's Knot, and the libretto of a comic opera, Daphne, or the Pipes of Arcadia. Set to music by Arthur Bird, of London, it gained the prize of US$500 from the New York Conservatory of Music.^[4] Having served as the private secretary of Elizabeth Bacon Custer, Merington was the editor of The Custer Story: The LIfe and Intimate Letters of General George A. Custer and His Wife Elizabeth.^[5]

Merington died in 1951.^[1] Of her life she said: "There is absolutely nothing about me to be told, and that I never tell."^[4]

Selected works

Notes

References