Anne Commire Explained

Anne Commire (11 August 1939 – 23 February 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]

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.^[5]

Commire was born in Wyandotte, Michigan and received a bachelor's degree in 1961 from Eastern Michigan University. She initially worked as a teacher and an editor for reference books for Gale Group. She later edited the sixteen-volume Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia which received the Dartmouth Medal for outstanding reference work in 2002.

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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Anne Commire dies at 72; playwright tackled women's hardships. Chicago Tribune . 2012-04-05 . 2021-02-25.
2. Web site: Stage: Anne Commire's ‘Shay’ . The New York Times . 1978-03-08 . 2021-03-03.
3. Valerie J, Nelson, Anne Commire dies at 72; playwright tackled women's hardships, Los Angeles Times, 4 April 2012
4. Web site: Author Bio: Anne Commire . Heinemann . 2012-11-19 . 2021-02-25.
5. Web site: No More Secrets. Chicago Tribune . 1991-10-27 . 2021-03-03.
6. Web site: Anne Commire Papers . The University of Southern Mississippi -- de Grummond Children's Literature Collection . 2021-03-03.
7. Web site: Long Island's & NYC's News Source - Newsday . Newsday . 2021-03-03.
8. Web site: Commire . Anne . Heller . Matthew . MOOREVILLE . Kirkus Reviews . 2021-03-03.