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Biography of Mabel Dodge LuhanName: Mabel Dodge LuhanBirth Date: February 26, 1879 Death Date: August 13, 1962 Place of Birth: Buffalo, New York, United States Nationality: American Gender: Female Occupations: writer Mabel Dodge Luhan Mabel Dodge Luhan (1879-1962), American writer, salon hostess, patron saint, and inspiration to an assortment of talented artists, writers, and political radicals in the early decades of the 20th century, was a leading symbol of the "New Woman."Mabel Dodge Luhan was born on February 26, 1879, in Buffalo, New York, to Charles and Sara (Cook) Ganson. The Gansons were an affluent family living on inherited wealth. Both of Mabel's grandfathers had made fortunes in banking. Her father Charles was trained as a lawyer, but his weak, nervous disposition, coupled with violent and unpredictable temper tantrums, made him unfit for this or any other profession. When he was not shouting at his wife in jealous "fits," he spent hours alone in his study doing absolutely nothing at all. He lavished affection on his dogs but had no interest in his only daughter. Mabel knew he did not love her. "To him," she recalled, "…showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…civilization, she captured the imaginations of her generation's most talented writers, artists, and thinkers, and profoundly influenced their understanding of modern America. Further Reading There are three biographies, Winifred L. Frazer's Mabel Dodge Luhan, Emily Hahn's Mabel and Lois Palken Rudnick's Mabel Dodge Luhan: New Woman, New Worlds. For comments on her character and influence see: Christopher Lasch, The New Radicalism in America (1965); Hutchins Hapgood, A Victorian in the Modern World (1939); The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens, vol. II (1931); Robert Crunden, From Self to Society, 1919-1941 (1972); Joseph Foster, D. H. Lawrence in Taos (1972); Maurice Sterne, Shadow and Light (1952); and Claire Morrill, A Taos Mosaic (1973).Frazer, Winifred L., Mabel Dodge Luhan, Boston: Twayne, 1984. Hahn, Emily, Mabel: a biography of Mabel Dodge Luhan, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.Luhan, Mabel Dodge, Movers and shakers, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1985, 1936. Rudnick, Lois Palken, Mabel Dodge Luhan: new woman, new worlds, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1984. |