Sara Mayfield(September 10, 1905 – January 15, 1979) was an American writer, journalist, and inventor.[1]Her writing included plays, novels, short stories, and newspaper articles.[2]
Sara Mayfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sara Martin Mayfield September 10, 1905 Montgomery, Alabama,US |
| Died | January 10, 1979(aged 73) Tuscaloosa, Alabama,US |
| Occupation | author, journalist, inventor |
| Education | |
| Genre | Biography |
| Notable works |
|
Early life and education
editMayfield spent her early life inMontgomery, Alabamawhere her childhood acquaintances includedTallulah Bankhead,Zelda Fitzgerald,andSara Haardt.[3]
Mayfield attendedGoucher CollegeinBaltimore, Maryland.While there, she won a short-story prize in 1924, which brought her into contact with the journalist and satiristH. L. Mencken.Menken invited Mayfield to supper at Baltimore's Schellhase Palazzo restaurant. As a chaperone, she took her friend Haardt.[4]After a lengthy courtship, Menken and Haardt married on August 27, 1930, in Baltimore.[5]
Writing
editMayfield penned three book-length works:The Constant Circle: H.L. Mencken and His Friends;Exiles from Paradise: Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald;andMona Lisa, the Woman in the Portrait: a Fictional Biographyin addition to numerous articles for theBaltimore Sun,theParis Herald,theNew York Herald Tribune,Transradio Press,and theBirmingham News. She worked as an assistant editor at theUniversity of Alabama Pressfrom 1967 to 1969.[6]
Inventions
editIn 1946, Mayfield experimented with byproducts from cotton productions. She devised a method for combining wastecellulosewith water, which caused the material to harden into a durable material with marketable applications. She called the material Plasticast and incorporated a business called Southern Cellulose Corporation to develop the material's potential.[7]
Confinement
editFollowing what she considered erratic behavior, Susie Mayfield, Mayfield's mother, had her daughter taken from their home, Idlewyld, inTuscaloosa, Alabamaand confined toBryce Hospitalon March 23, 1948.[8]Zelda Fitzgeraldhad perished two weeks earlier on March 10 atHighland HospitalinAsheville, North Carolina.[9]Mayfield was released from Bryce on February 25, 1965.[10]
References
edit- ^Staff writer (January 15, 1979)."Sara Mayfield, Wrote Biography of Mencken".New York Times.No. Jan. 15, 1979.RetrievedDecember 2,2023.
- ^"Sara Mayfield papers (MSS.0935)".Guides.lib.ua.edu.University of Alabama.RetrievedDecember 2,2023.
- ^Horne, Jennifer (January 15, 2024).Odyssey of a Wandering Mind: The Strange Tale of Sara Mayfield, Author.Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. pp. 2–4.ISBN9780817321369.
- ^Mayfield, Sara (April 25, 1965)."Days of Grace".Menkeniana.Fall 1965 (15): 8–9.JSTOR26482649.RetrievedDecember 2,2023.
- ^Mayfield, Sara (1968).The Constant Circle: H.L. Menken and His Friends.Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama. pp. 168–169.ISBN9780817350635.RetrievedDecember 2,2023.
- ^"MAYFIELD, SARA, 1905-1979".Alabama Authors.The University of Alabama Libraries.RetrievedDecember 2,2023.
- ^Horne 2024, p. 120.
- ^Horne 2024, p. 123.
- ^Smith, Anne Chesky."Inside the 1948 Highland Hospital fire that killed Zelda Fitzgerald".Citizen Times.No. December 4, 2022. USA Today Network.RetrievedDecember 2,2023.
- ^Horne 2024, p. 191.