Christopher Morley

On June 14, 1914, he married Helen Booth Fairchild, with whom he had four children. Right after their wedding, the couple lived in Hempstead, followed by Queens Village, Philadelphia and finally settling in a house they called ‘Green Escape’, where they would live for the remainder part of their lives.

In 1936, he built a separate cabin for himself behind the ‘Green Escape’ property, which he used for writing.

He suffered a number of strokes during his lifetime, which eventually ended up affecting his literary output and productivity.

Christopher Morley was born to Lilian Janet Bird and Frank Morley in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. His father was a mathematics professor and his mother was a violinist, who inspired his love for poetry and literature.

After the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, he studied at Haverford College, from where he graduated in 1910 as a valedictorian. He then went on to New College, Oxford on a Rhodes scholarship, to study modern history.

While he was still in college, he was the editor for ‘The Haverfordian’ and contributed a number of articles to the publication. He was also actively involved with the drama program in college.

In 1912, he published his first set of poems titled, ‘The Eighth Sin’. The next year, he completed his education and began work as a publicist and publisher’s reader.

In 1917, he was made the editor for ‘Ladies’ Home Journal’; a position he served with the publication for a year. He was then made a newspaper reporter and newspaper columnist for ‘Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger’.

In 1917, he also wrote his first novel, ‘Parnassus on Wheels’. The protagonist of the novel reappeared in a second novel written by Morley two years later titled, ‘The Haunted Bookshop’.

In 1920, he wrote a column titled ‘The Bowling Green’ for the New York Evening Post after he returned to New York City. It was around this time, he became a longtime contributing editor of the ‘Saturday Review of Literature’.

He authored one of his best-remembered works, ‘Thunder on the Left’, in 1925. Three years later, he authored a collection of essays titled, ‘Off the Deep End’.

From 1928 to 1930, he was actively involved in co-producing theater productions in Hoboken, New Jersey. It was during this period he was the co-author for ‘Born in a Beer Garden, or She Troupes to Conquer’ and ‘Seacoast of Bohemia’.

His 1939 novel, ‘Kitty Foyle’ is regarded as his literary masterpiece, which became a best-seller in the year of its release, selling over one million copies. The bold publication became so successful that it spawned a film of the same title in 1940, which also became a blockbuster hit. In addition to the hit film which won an Academy Award, ‘Kitty Foyle’ was also adapted for radio and television.