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Lillian Lauferty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lillian Lauferty (c. 1890—1958) was an American writer whose works appeared in newspapers, magazines, and radio scripts. She was perhaps best known for her newspaper columns published with the byline Beatrice Fairfax.

Education

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Lauferty was an alumna of Smith College.[1]

Ethnicity and intermarriage

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Lauferty's great-grandmother was Hannah Rothschild, a niece of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty. The family severed ties with Hannah when she married a French Christian.[2] Lauferty herself came from a mixed parentage, having a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother.[3] A 1930 newspaper article reported, however, "Miss Lauferty has again become an integral part of the Jewish people, inasmuch as she is the wife of James Wolfe, noted basso of the Metropolitan Opera Company."[2] She and Wolfe married in October 1924.[4]

Career

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Prompted by newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane, Lauferty became a journalist when she was 19,[5] working as a reporter for the New York Evening Journal.[1] Much of her writing for newspapers was in the form of advice-to-the-lovelorn columns. She wrote the "Ask Beatrice Fairfax" advice column after Marie Manning, the originator, stopped writing them in 1920. Lauferty continued until 1927.[6]

Lauferty began writing for radio in the 1930s.[6] Her work in that medium included creating the soap opera Big Sister (1936) and writing scripts for it;[7] and she wrote for Your Family and Mine (1938).[6] She also acted on two radio series[5] and was mistress of ceremonies on You and Your Happiness.[8]

Lauferty's work was also published in magazines, including Collier's, Cosmopolitan, Liberty, and Redbook.[9]

Books by Lauferty included a novelization of Edward Henry Peple's A Pair of Sixes (1914),[10] The Hungry House (1943),[11] and Baritone (1948).[12] Mrs. Lauferty died on February 17, 1958, at the age of 68.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b "AAUW Group Plans Review". Orlando Evening Star. Florida, Orlando. February 19, 1952. p. 15. Retrieved December 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Weisgal, Meyer W. (January 26, 1930). "Jews Too Sensitive to Prejudice, Says Descendant of Rothschilds". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. p. 16. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Lillian Lauferty Discusses Her Book, 'Street of Chains'". The Morning Call. New Jersey, Paterson. May 17, 1930. p. 18. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Stein, Hannah (July 8, 1926). "Marriage--Or a Career". The Decatur Herald. Illinois, Decatur. p. 9. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Your Family And Mine Is New NBC Serial". Altoona Tribune. Pennsylvania, Altoona. April 25, 1938. p. 12. Retrieved December 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c Ellett, Ryan (2017). Radio Drama and Comedy Writers, 1928-1962. McFarland. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-4766-6593-1. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  7. ^ Cox, Jim (2008). The Great Radio Soap Operas. McFarland. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-7864-3865-5. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  8. ^ "You and Your Happiness". Tyler Morning Telegraph. Texas, Tyler. June 22, 1936. p. 5. Retrieved December 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Writers' conference faculty announced". Lansing State Journal. Michigan, Lansing. May 28, 1941. p. 28. Retrieved December 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Faxon, Frederick Winthrop; Bates, Mary Estella; Sutherland, Anne C. (1915). Annual Magazine Subject-index. Boston Book Company. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  11. ^ "The Star's Book Corner". The Star Press. Indiana, Muncie. United Press. June 27, 1943. p. 16. Retrieved December 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "At the Opera". The Tennessean. Tennessee, Nashville. November 14, 1948. p. 72. Retrieved December 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Lilian Lauferty, Ex-Columnist, 68; Writer of 'Beatrice Fairfax' in Journal 1920-27 Dies — Author of 5 Novels", The New York Times, February 20, 1958, p. 25