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Jessamyn West
Mary Jessamyn West (July 18, 1902 - February 23, 1984) was an American author of short stories and novels.
A Quaker from Indiana, she was a second cousin of former President Nixon...view moreMary Jessamyn West (July 18, 1902 - February 23, 1984) was an American author of short stories and novels.
A Quaker from Indiana, she was a second cousin of former President Nixon on her grandfather’s side. West graduated from Whittier College with an English degree in 1923 and began teaching.
During a lengthy hospital stay in 1932, she resumed writing to pass her time. Her first publication was a short story called 99.6, about her experiences in the sanitarium, published in 1939. Her early success came from publishing short stories in literary journals, and her first book, The Friendly Persuasion was published in 1945. It was adapted into the 1956 movie Friendly Persuasion, starring Gary Cooper, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. To See the Dream (1957), an autobiographical book, described her experiences as the movie’s script writer.
West died in California in 1984 at the age of 81.view less