Myra Sturtevant Nye (May 12, 1875 – January 28, 1955) was a writer, journalist, and clubwoman based in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. She was the women's club editor and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

columnist at the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' from 1919 to 1934.

Early life

Myra Bell Sturtevant was born in 1875, in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Her parents were William Sturtevant and Mary Davis Sturtevant. Myra Sturtevant graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in 1896.

Career

Myra Sturtevant first moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1896 with her father, and returned with husband and her first two children in 1901. She helped to organize the Glendora Women's Club, and was the group's first vice president."Talented Pioneer Woman Has Rich Memories of

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley (), sometimes referred to by its initials as SGV, is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, with the city of Los Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern ...

" ''Covina Argus'' (June 18, 1953): 18. via

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From 1919 to 1934, she was the women's club editor at the ''Los Angeles Times''. She also wrote the column "Society of Cinemaland". She covered other events as well, including a lecture on quantum theory by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

's grandson at the Ebell Club, of which she wrote, "When Charles Darwin, long ago, advanced his evolution theory he could have created no greater bewilderment than did his grandson yesterday." She served a term as president of the Southern California Women's Press Club. Myra Nye wrote a historical novel, ''Heart of Gold'' (1912), and forty short stories, most of them with California historical settings. She taught evening writing classes in

Covina Covina (Help:IPA/English, /koviːnə/) is a city in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

after she retired from newspaper work.

Personal life

Myra Sturtevant married William Putnam Nye, a druggist, in Oberlin, Ohio in 1898. They had four children. Their son

Carroll Nye Robert Carroll Nye (October 4, 1901 – March 17, 1974) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1925 and 1944. His most memorable role was Frank Kennedy, Scarlett's second husband, in ''Gone with the Wind''. Biog ...

had a notable career in Hollywood. Another son, Wilbur S. Nye, was a writer. She was also active with the Covina chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...

, and in local theatrical productions. She and her son Ralph Nye also made and marketed several flavors of

marmalade Marmalade (from the Portuguese ''marmelada'') is a fruit preserves, fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It also has been made from lemons ...

as "Myra Nye Marmalade", in the 1940s. Myra Nye was widowed in 1947, and died in

Glendora, California Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. World-famous Route 66 runs through the city. Known as the "Pride of the Footh ...

in 1955, aged 79 years."Myra Nye, Former Times Woman's Editor, Dies"
''Los Angeles Times'' (January 30, 1955): 4.

References

External links

*Myra Nye
"Spirit of California"
a poem published in the 1922 edition of ''Who's Who Among the Women of California'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, Myra 1875 births 1955 deaths 20th-century American women journalists Writers from Cleveland Journalists from Cleveland 20th-century American journalists Journalists from California Los Angeles Times people People from Covina, California Oberlin College alumni American women short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers Clubwomen