Marie Conway Oemler Explained

Marie Conway Oemler (May 29, 1879 – June 7, 1932) was an American author from Georgia. She wrote numerous books and was a contributor to publications including The Century Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Women's Home Companion, and Ladies Home Journal. Her books Slippy McGee and A Woman Named Smith are part of the Library of Congress Collection and have been digitized.[1] Three films have been adapted from her novels.

Early life

Born Marie Conway in Savannah, Georgia on May 29, 1879, she was the daughter of Helena Browne Conway and Richard Hoban Conway. Her maternal grandmother was born in Tipperary, Ireland and taught her about Irish folklore and fairy tales throughout her childhood. Her paternal grandfather was an amateur naturalist. As a child, she lived with him in Florida, which is where she first met a Red Admiral, a butterfly that had an important role in her book The Purple Heights.

Career

Oemler's first works were poetry and short stories, published in magazines from 1907 to 1917. Her first book, Slippy McGee, was published in 1917 and had slow sales at first. However, it had repeated printings and became Oemler's most popular novel. In 1919, Oemler's novel A Woman Named Smith was published. The book focused on a love story set in a haunted house in the South.[2] Her next novel, The Purple Heights (1920), became a bestseller.[3]

She wrote the 1927 novel The Holy Lover focusing on John Wesley, an 18th-century English religious leader. A historical novel, this work deviated from the popular fiction she created during most of her career, and stood alone as her most serious work. Most of her novels were written to appeal to wider audiences, using sensationalist adventure, romance, and suspense in her plots.

Her book Where the Young Child Was is a collection of Christmas themed stories.

Personal life

She married John Norton Oemler in 1901 and had two children, a boy and a girl—Alan Norton Oemler and Elizabeth Heyward Oemler, respectively. She died from heart disease on June 7, 1932, in Charleston, South Carolina.

Bibliography

Short stories

Novels

Media adaptations

Oemler's work has been adapted into films, including Slippy McGee (1923), Two Shall Be Born (1924), and Slippy McGee (1948).

In Slippy McGee (1948), Norman S. Hall and Jerry Gruskin's screenplay was based on Oemler's novel.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Search results for Selected Digitized Books, Children's Books, Available Online, 1921, Oemler, Marie (Conway), EPUB. marie (conway). oemler. Library of Congress.
  2. Do You Know "Slippy McGee"? . Country Life . 1919 . 36 . 124 . 15 May 2020 . Doubleday, Page & Company . Google Books.
  3. Best Sellers Last Month . The Publishers' Weekly . 1921 . 99 . 1 . 56 . 15 May 2020 . R.R. Bowker Co. . Internet Archive.
  4. Web site: Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine .... May 15, 1921. Scribner & Company. Google Books.
  5. Web site: The Little Brown House. Marie Conway. Oemler. May 15, 1927. Cornstalk Publishing Company. Google Books.
  6. Web site: The little brown house. Marie Conway. Oemler. May 15, 1947. Angus and Robertson. National Library of Australia (new catalog).
  7. Web site: The Laughing Prodigal. Marie Conway. Oemler. May 15, 1928. William Heinemann. Google Books.
  8. Book: Motion Picture Herald . January 31, 1948 . Product Digest Section . 4038 . 13 September 2020.