Lee Knowlton Blessing (born October 4, 1949) is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

best known for his 1988 work, '' A Walk in the Woods''. A lifelong Midwesterner, Blessing continued to work in regional theaters in and around his hometown of Minneapolis through his 40s before relocating to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Life and work

Blessing was born in Minneapolis, and graduated from

Minnetonka High School Minnetonka High School, or MHS (locally referred to as Tonka), is a four-year public high school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States, a western suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. The school enrolls about 3,444 students, and offers four ...

in 1967. He began his college education at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

, Minneapolis, but later transferred to

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

in Oregon where he earned a B.A. in English in 1971. After Blessing earned his degree, his parents offered the young graduate the choice between a used car or a trip to Russia. Blessing chose Russia where he found inspiration to write his best-known work, the award-winning '' A Walk in the Woods''. According to interviews with Blessing, the play, which depicts the developing relationship between a Russian and an American arms limitation negotiator is based on fact. Apparently, during the 1982 talks in Geneva, Switzerland, Soviet Yuli Kvitsinsky and American

Paul Nitze Paul Henry Nitze (January 16, 1907 – October 19, 2004) was an American politician who served as United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department. He is best kn ...

left the formal discussions to literally take a walk in the woods. Following its premiere in Waterford, Connecticut, ''A Walk in the Woods'' was nominated for both a

Tony award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

and a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

. Though the production won neither award, it was reprised produced in Moscow in 1989 and later adapted for television. Upon returning from his tenure abroad, Blessing went on to study playwriting at the University of Iowa where he received MFA degrees in English and Speech and Theater. He would later return to teach at the Iowa's Playwrights Workshop and the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative ...

in addition to his time as an instructor at the Playwright's Center in Minneapolis. He currently serves as Head of the graduate playwriting program at Mason Gross School of the Arts at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. Blessing's most recent plays include ''A Body of Water'', ''

Whores Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

'', '' The Scottish Play'', ''

Black Sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...

'', '' Fortinbras'', and many others. He has also written one act plays including ''The Roads That Lead Here'' and ''

Eleemosynary Eleemosynary may refer to: *Eleemosynary, relating to charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (prac ...

''. Eight of his plays have been staged at the

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special A ...

in Waterford, Connecticut during the prestigious National Playwrights Conference. Several of his most recent works produced in New York City including ''Thief River'', ''Cobb'' and ''Chesapeake'', received

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fol ...

nominations and an award, plus nominations from the

Outer Critics Circle The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

. Blessing married his first wife, Jeanne Blake, in 1986. He is currently married to fellow playwright and screenwriter,

Melanie Marnich Melanie Marnich is an American television writer-producer and playwright. She co-created and serves as executive producer and co-showrunner for the upcoming Amazon series, '' The Expatriates.'' She has written for ''Big Love'' on HBO; Her episode ...

Works

Theatre

* 1975: ''The Real Billy The Kid'' * 1980: ''The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid'' (revised version premiered Washington, D.C., 1979) * 1983: ''Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music'' (premiered Louisville, Kentucky, 1982) * 1985: ''Independence'' (premiered Louisville, Kentucky, 1984) * 1986: ''Riches'' (as War of the Roses, premiered Louisville, Kentucky, 1985) * 1987: ''

'' (premiered St. Paul, Minnesota, 1985; New York, 1989) * 1988: ''Oldtimers Game'' (premiered Louisville, Kentucky, 1982) * 1988: '' A Walk in the Woods'' (premiered La Jolla, California, 1987; New York and London, 1988) * 1990: ''Two Rooms'' (premiered La Jolla, California, 1988) * 1991: ''Cobb'' (premiered New Haven, Connecticut, 1989) * 1991: ''Down the Road'' (premiered La Jolla, California, 1989) * 1992: '' Fortinbras'' (sequel to William Shakespeare's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'') * 1993: ''Lake Street'' Extension (premiered New York, 1992) * 1995: ''Patient A'' * 1996: ''Going To St. Ives'' (premiered in Waterford, CT, 1996) * 1999: ''Chesapeake'' (premiered in New York, NY, 1999) * 2000: ''The Winning Streak'' (premiered in Waterford, CT, 1999) * 2000: ''Thief River'' (premiered in Waterford, CT, 2000) * 2001: ''

'' (premiered in Manalapan, Florida, 2001) * 2002: ''The Roads That Lead Here'' * 2002: ''Whores'' (premiered in Waterford, CT, 2002) * 2003: ''Snapshot'' (premiered in Louisville, KY, 2002) * 2003: ''Tyler Poked Taylor'' (premiered in Louisville, KY, 2002) * 2003: ''The Road that Leads Here'' (premiered in Minneapolis, MN, 2002) * 2004: ''Flag Day'' (premiered in Shepherdstown, WV, 2004) * 2005: ''The Scottish Play'' * 2005: ''A Body of Water'' * 2006: ''Lonesome Hollow'' * 2007: ''Moderation'' * 2008: ''Great Falls'' * 2008: ''Perilous Night'' * 2009: ''Into You'' * 2009: ''Heaven's My Destination'' * 2010: ''When We Go Upon the Sea'' (premiered in Philadelphia, PA, 2010) * 2013 ''Courting Harry,'' (premiered in St. Paul, MN, 2013) * 2015 ''For the Loyal'' (premiered in Minneapolis, MN, 2015)

Television

* 1993: ''

Cooperstown Cooperstown is a village in and county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in the ...

''Lee Blessing – Humanitas Prize winner and CableACE Awards nominee
(1993). ''iMDB.com''. Retrieved on May 27, 2015.

Awards

* American College Theater Festival Award (1979) * Jerome Foundation Grant (1981, 1982) * McKnight Foundation Grant (1983, 1989) * Great American Play Award ** ''Oldtimers Game'' (1982) ** ''Independence'' (1984) ** ''War of the Roses'' (1985) ** ''Down the Road'' (1991) ** ''Snapshot'' (2002) ** ''The Roads that Lead Here'' (2003) ** ''Great Falls'' (2008) * National Endowment for the Arts Grant (1985, 1988) * Bush Foundation Fellowship (1987) * American Theater Critics Association Award ** '' A Walk in the Woods'' (1987) ** ''A Body of Water'' (2006) ** ''Great Falls'' (Citation, 2009) * Marton Award (1988) * Dramalogue Award (1988) *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

(1989) *

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

(1993)

References

External links

Lee Blessing
- ''Downstage Center'' interview at American Theatre Wing.org
Lee Blessing
��entry in The Playwrights Database
Lee Blessing Papers
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blessing, Lee 1949 births Living people 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Writers from Minneapolis Reed College alumni Rutgers University faculty 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male dramatists and playwrights