Dorothy Gertrude Quick Mayer (September 1, 1896 – ) was an American novelist and poet.

Early life

Dorothy Gertrude Quick was born on September 1, 1896, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, the only child of Henry Stanhope Quick Jr. (1867–1935) and Emma Gertrude Aaron (1875–1942). She attended the Plainfield Seminary in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

. As a child, Quick met celebrated author

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

aboard the '' SS Minnetonka'' en route to America in the summer of 1907. They formed a friendship on the vessel, playing numerous games of

shuffleboard Shuffleboard (Deck shuffleboard) is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a marked scoring area. As a more generic term, it refers t ...

– which Twain called "horse billiards", and appointed her his "business manager". Their

friendship Friendship is a Interpersonal relationship, relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Althoug ...

even spawned numerous newspaper stories upon landing in New York, and continued through numerous visits and letters over the next three years, with Twain encouraging and advising Quick on her wish to become an author. For her birthday in 1907, Twain sent her a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

that read:

I tried to get some elephants for your birthday but they charge ten thousand dollars apiece, 3 for twenty-five thousand, I can get one elephant & sixteen hundred monkeys for the same money if you prefer.

Twain died in 1910. Near the end of her life, Quick published ''Enchantment: A Little Girl's Friendship With Mark Twain'' (1961), republished as ''Mark Twain and Me'' (1999). Her story was later dramatized as the film ''Mark Twain and Me'' (1991) with

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he gained a reputation as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill. Robards received numerous accola ...

as Twain and Amy Stewart as Quick.

Career

Much of Quick's work was in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, or horror, starting with the story "Scented Gardens" in '' Oriental Stories'' in 1932. She was one of the most frequent contributors of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

and poems in ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...

'' starting in the 1930s, including the story "Strange Orchids", about a

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

that consumes a woman from the inside out. Her series of "Patchwork Quilt" stories about a quilt which conveys the user through time, appeared in ''

Unknown Unknown or The Unknown may refer to: Film and television Film * The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), Australian silent film * The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film), American silent drama ...

'' in 1939 and 1940. She wrote a

planetary romance Planetary romanceAllen Steele, ''Captain Future - the Horror at Jupiter''p .195/ref> (other synonyms are sword and planet, and planetary adventure) is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy in which the bulk of the action consists of a ...

novel, ''Strange Awakening'' (1938), about a woman transported to

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

who helps a rebel prince overthrow a tyrannical psychic mind that rules the planet. She wrote fifteen books of both poetry and novels, including numerous

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

s. ''The Fifth Dagger'' (1947) was the first of a series of

cozy mystery Cozy mysteries (also referred to as cozies) are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur offstage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small socially-intimate community. Cozies thus s ...

novels featuring Diana Blakeley and her husband,

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

Allen Blakeley. In 1925 she married John Adams Mayer. He died in 1940. Dorothy Gertrude Quick Mayer died on March 15, 1962, in East Hampton, New York.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Strange Awakening'' (1938) * ''The Fifth Dagger'' (1947) * ''Something Evil'' (1958) * ''Cry in the Night'' (1959) * ''Too Strange a Hand'' (1959) * ''The Doctor Looks at Murder'' (1959)

Poetry

* ''Threads'' (1927) * ''Changing Winds'' (1935) * ''Spears into Life'' (1938) * ''To What Strange Altar'' (1940) * ''Variations on a Theme'' (1947) * ''Laugh While You Can'' (1947) * ''Interludes'' (1953) * ''Bold Heart, and Other Poems'' (1960)

Nonfiction

* ''Enchantment: A Little Girl's Friendship With Mark Twain'' (1961) republished as ''Mark Twain and Me'' (1999)

Plays

* ''One Night in Holyrood'' (1949)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quick, Dorothy Created via preloaddraft 1896 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American women writers American women poets