Katharine Brush (August 15, 1902 – June 10, 1952) was an American newspaper columnist, short-story writer, and novelist. In the era of the 1920s-1930s, she was considered one of the country's most widely-read fiction writers,"Novelist Katharine Brush Dies, Ill Several Months." ''Boston Globe'', June 11, 1952, p. 32. as well as one of the highest paid women writers of her time; several of her books were best-sellers, and several others were made into movies.

Early years

Katharine Brush was born Katharine Louise Ingham in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (25.749504 km) south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the L ...

. She was the daughter of Charles S. Ingham, an educator,"Death Takes Noted Woman Writer at 49." ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', June 12, 1952, p. 4. and his wife Clara. Young Katharine did not attend college; directly after graduating from Centenary Collegiate Institute, a New Jersey boarding school, at age 16, she began working as a movie columnist for the ''

Boston Evening Traveller The ''Boston Evening Traveller'' (1845–1967) was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a daily newspaper, with weekly and semi-weekly editions under a variety of ''Traveller'' titles. It was absorbed by the ''Boston Herald'' ...

.''"Katharine Brush, Noted Author, Dies in New York City." ''Marion (OH) Star'', June 11, 1952, p. 1. She married Thomas Stewart Brush when she was eighteen; he was the son of Louis H. Brush of

Brush-Moore Newspapers Brush-Moore Newspapers, Inc. was a United States newspaper group based in Ohio which had its origins in 1923 and was sold to Thomson Newspapers in 1967 for $72 million, the largest ever newspaper transaction at that time.THOMAS STEWART BRUSH; Director of Newspaper Chain in Ohio Dies in Tucson at 42
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', October 31, 1938 After the marriage, she moved to Ohio with him.

Literary career

Brush's writing first attracted attention in the 1920s. During this time, multiple short stories of hers were published in serial magazines like '' College Humor'' and ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

''; the best known of these were collected in a book titled ''Night Club'' (1929); the title story first appeared in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'' in September 1927. Brush's works were characterized by her narrative style and wit: she was praised for being a keen observer of contemporary American life, a writer skilled at presenting the foibles of relationships in a realistic manner. Her story "Him and Her" (published in ''

Collier's Weekly } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'' March 16, 1929) was an O. Henry Award winner named "Best Short Short" of 1929, and in 1932, she was again named a Best Short Story writer, by the O. Henry Memorial Committee. She also received honorable mentions for her short story "Night Club" (1927); her 1931 story "Good Wednesday", which also appeared in Harper's; as well as for a 1932 short story, "Football Girl", which was published in '' College Humor'' in October 1931. During the mid-1920s, in addition to writing short stories and beginning a novel, she also wrote syndicated columns. Among her columns in the early-to-mid-1920s were occasional articles about sports, including boxing, and college football. And during 1925 and 1926, she covered the World Series for several newspapers in Ohio. Brush's first novel, ''

Glitter Glitter is an assortment of flat, small, reflective particles that are precision cut and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Glitter particles resemble confetti, sparkles and sequins, but somewhat smaller. Since prehistoric times ...

'', was published in 1926, to favorable reviews. Her novel ''Young Man of Manhattan'' was named the 9th best-selling novel of 1930 by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' and later that year was made into a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

starring

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert (koʊlˈbɛər/ kohl-BAIR, born Émilie "Lily" Claudette Chauchoin (ʃoʃwɛ̃/ show-shwan); September 13, 1903 – July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway theater, Broadway productions dur ...

Norman Foster Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank (born 1 June 1935) is an English architect. Closely associated with the development of high-tech architecture, Lord Foster is recognised as a key figure in British modernist architecture. Hi ...

, and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

. Her subsequent novel ''Red-Headed Woman'' was made into a

in 1932 starring

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

; playwright

Anita Loos Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...

adapted the story for the screen. In 1936, Katharine Brush christened the USCGC Ingham; the new cutter was formally commissioned on 12 September 1936; it would later be decommissioned in 1988. The ship was named after one of her ancestors, American politician Samuel D. Ingham, and this incident was discussed in her 1940 autobiographical collection of works, ''This Is On Me''. It also featured a story about what in the 1970s became known as latchkey children) . Critics praised the book for its honesty in showing the development of Brush's talent, by including some early works that were not as impressive, and then moving on to her well-received later works. In addition, the book was said to offer a behind-the-scenes look at how Brush went from obscurity to success as an author. Ironically, Brush (whose nickname was "Kay") frequently told friends that despite being popular and critically acclaimed, she worried that after she died, she would probably be forgotten. In 1967, only 15 years after her death, a critic who had known her noted that in fact, fewer and fewer people remembered who she was.

Later years and legacy

Her first marriage ended in divorce; she moved to New York City and remarried in 1929, to businessman Hubert Charles "Bobby" Winans, but that marriage ended in divorce in 1941. She was the mother of one child, Thomas, with her first husband. She died after a long illness, in New York: some sources say she was 49, but some sources say she was 52. At the time when she took ill, she had been working on a new novel, to be called "Lover Come Back." Her son Thomas, who became a newspaper executive and a patron of the arts, donated the funding for a new library in her memory to the

Loomis Chaffee School The Loomis Chaffee School (; LC or Loomis) is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, including postgraduate students, located in Windsor, Connecticut, seven miles north of Hart ...

of Windsor, CT, in 1968. The building, designed by architect Kenneth DeMay of

Hideo Sasaki Hideo Sasaki (25 November 1919 – 30 August 2000) was a Japanese American landscape architect. Biography Hideo Sasaki was born in Reedley, California, on 25 November 1919. He grew up working on his family's California truck farm, and harvesting ...

's firm Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates (now Sasaki Associates), is still in use today at the school. The Katharine Brush Library contains a larger than life-size portrait by Leon Gordon of Katharine Brush looking down the length of the second floor. Brush's short story "Birthday Party" is frequently taught in literature classes. It appeared on the 2005

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

English Literature Exam; the story was originally published in The ''New Yorkers Fiction section on March 16, 1946. Brush's Connecticut home was featured on a 2006 episode of

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

's "If Walls Could Talk".

Selected list of works

Source: *''

'' (1926) *''Little Sins'' (1927) *''Night Club'' (1929) *''Young Man of Manhattan'' (1930), which appeared on the 1930 ''

'' bestseller list and was filmed as ''

Young Man of Manhattan ''Young Man of Manhattan'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Monta Bell and starring Claudette Colbert, Norman Foster (director), Norman Foster, Ginger Rogers, and Charlie Ruggles, Charles Ruggles. ...

'' (1930) with

. *''Red-Headed Woman'' (1931), which was made into ''

Red-Headed Woman ''Red-Headed Woman'' is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Jack Conway from a screenplay by Anita Loos, based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Katharine Brush. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film stars Jean ...

'' (1932), a movie starring

*''Other Women'' (1933) *''Don't Ever Leave Me'' (1935) *''Free Woman'' (1936), filmed as '' Honeymoon in Bali'' (1939) with

Madeleine Carroll Marie-Madeleine Bernadette O'Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and in America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress. Ca ...

. *''Marry For Money'' (1937) made into

Mannequin (1937 film) ''Mannequin'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Joan Crawford, Spencer Tracy, and Alan Curtis. Crawford plays Jessie, a young working class woman who seeks to improve her life by marrying her boyfriend, only to ...

with

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...

.James Combs. ''American Political Movies: An Annotated Filmography of Feature Films.'' New York: Routledge, 2014, p. 152. *''This Is on Me'' (1940) (a mostly non-fiction autobiography with unconventional structure) *''You Go Your Way'' (novel) (1941) *''The Boy from Maine'' (1942) *''Out of My Mind'' (1943) *''This Man and This Woman'' (1944) *''When She Was Bad'' (1948) (reprinting of ''You Go Your Way'')

References

External links

* * Katharine Brush Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Bio at SpeakingOfStories.org

The Katharine Brush Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brush, Katherine 1902 births 1952 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers American women novelists American women short story writers Novelists from Connecticut Novelists from New York (state) People from Middletown, Connecticut Writers from Manhattan