Anne Commire
American playwright and editor (1939–2012)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anne Commire (August 11, 1939 – February 23, 2012) was an American playwright and editor who frequently wrote about women's issues and struggles.[1] Her first play, Shay, about a young pregnant high school dropout, was noted by The New York Times for having "sharp comic dialogue" despite the weighty subject matter.[2]
Anne Commire | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | August 11, 1939 Wyandotte, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | February 23, 2012 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | Playwright, editor |
| Education | Eastern Michigan University |
| Notable awards | Dartmouth Medal (2001) |
Life and career
Commire received the Eugene O'Neill Theater Award four times between 1973 and 1988.[3] She wrote the teleplay Rebel for God for CBS, and also has written for Dick Cavett, and Washington D.C.'s Spread Eagle Review, and Mariette Hartley’s one-woman show.[4] She and Hartley co-wrote Breaking the Silence, which was Harley's memoir about her difficult early years and how Hartley would no longer be keeping the secrets of her earlier difficult life.[1][5]
Commire was born in Wyandotte, Michigan, and received a bachelor's degree in 1961 from Eastern Michigan University.[1] She initially worked as a teacher and an editor for reference books for Gale Group. She later edited the 16-volume Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, which received the Dartmouth Medal for outstanding reference work in 2002.[1]
Commire died of cancer in 2012 and her papers are held by the University of Southern Mississippi.[6][7]
Works
Plays
- Shay
- Put Them All Together. Premiered at the Coronet Theatre, 1982.
- The Melody Sisters
- Starting Monday
- The NOW Show
Books
- (ed.) Yesterday's authors of books for children : facts and pictures about authors and illustrators of books for young people, from early times to 1960, Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1977
- (with Mariette Hartley) Breaking the Silence, 1990
- (ed.) Historic world leaders, Detroit : Gale Research Inc., 1994
- (ed.) Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia, 17 vols., 2000.
- (ed.) Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 women through the ages, Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 3 vols., 2007
- Moorville[8]
