Thornton Wilder (127 page)

in California, 25–28, 37, 64, 66, 71–72, 75, 83

at Chefoo school, 46–49, 51, 52, 58, 59, 71

childhood of, 1–2, 17, 22–28, 32–35

in China, 38, 47–49, 54–55, 57

death of, 701

emotional and mental health of, 255–56, 409, 510–11, 512–19, 521–22, 524–25, 528, 529, 533, 534, 557–58, 574, 575–76, 578, 582–83, 617–20, 625, 695–97

in Europe, 174, 189, 196, 215

and family separations, 49, 57, 70–71, 85, 375–76

and her father, 34, 35, 47, 48, 52, 80, 82, 141, 229, 367–68, 373–74, 415, 513–14

in Hong Kong, 19, 22–25

independence sought by, 285–86, 329, 373–76, 411, 417, 456, 482, 514–15, 583, 618

lobotomy of, 513, 583, 618–19

and money matters, 205, 219, 420, 456, 482, 514, 521, 524–25

at Mount Holyoke, 92, 98–99, 102, 114, 116, 140–41, 144, 150, 164, 174, 255

personality of, 47, 52, 71, 85, 141, 188, 291

poetry of, 34, 84, 139, 141, 196, 219, 251, 255, 367, 369, 373, 411, 429, 460, 484–85, 515–16

at Radcliffe, 239, 255

and sexuality, 368, 374–75, 515–16

at Smith College, 323, 329, 373

summer activities, 80, 82, 104–5

teaching, 291, 323, 329

and temperance pledge, 55

and TNW's work, 346, 516

and WPA, 411, 429, 482

and YWCA, 174, 189

Wilder, Charlotte Elizabeth (sister), writings of:

“Hollows,” 141

“In a Corner of France,” 273

Mortal Sequence,
460, 484, 516

“Of Persons, Not Alive,” 374

Phases of the Moon,
485, 515, 516, 517

Wilder, Charlotte Topliff Porter (grandmother), 2, 3

Wilder, George (no relation), 46

Wilder, Isabel (sister):

birth and childhood of, 1–2, 11, 17, 22–28, 35, 47

in California, 26–28, 37, 83, 84–85

and Charlotte's illness, 511, 513, 517, 522, 618, 696

death of, 701

in England, 195, 205, 216, 217–18, 223, 323

in Europe, 47, 49, 51, 55, 66, 70

and family obligations, 517–18, 574–75, 577, 699

and Federal Writers' Project, 484

health problems of, 468–69, 592, 696, 699

and her father, 116, 117, 229, 368, 410, 411, 415

and home, 371–73, 411, 417, 634

in Hong Kong, 19, 22–25

memories of, 14, 71

and money matters, 223, 329, 420, 456, 524, 696

in New Haven, 92, 98, 122, 188, 249–50, 371–73

in New York, 234–35, 474

at Northfield, 116–17, 146, 164

romantic problems of, 189–90, 218, 372, 428–29, 431–32, 457, 459

summer activities, 104–5, 140, 273, 616

TNW's travels with, 326–27, 463, 663, 667, 668

and TNW's work, 333, 350, 365, 372–73, 448, 477, 483, 488, 519, 541, 544, 551, 554, 555, 558, 572–73, 574–75, 589, 615, 656, 659, 660, 669, 674, 677, 678, 679

as writer, 138, 139, 190, 217, 367, 369, 371–72, 428, 460

at Yale, 239, 249–50, 326

Wilder, Isabel (sister), writings of:

At Dusk,
217

The Empty-Handed,
217

Heart Be Still,
372, 397

Let Winter Go,
372, 428–29, 574

Mother and Four,
372

Wilder, Isabella Thornton Niven (mother), 3–8

and APW, 6, 7–8, 25, 29, 50–51, 140, 188, 229, 230, 274

birth and background of, 4–5

in California, 25–31, 32, 74–75, 82–83

and Charlotte's illness, 510–11, 513, 517, 518, 521–22, 524–25

children of, 1–2, 11, 13, 75

in China, 37–40

cultural interests of, 11, 14, 27, 87, 108, 122, 139, 460

death of, 577, 578, 579, 701

early years of, 4, 6–7

in England, 195, 205, 216, 314, 323, 331

in Europe, 46–47, 48, 49, 50–51, 55, 60–61, 66, 216–17

health problems of, 551, 577

home and family, 363, 367, 379, 413, 417, 459–60, 484

in Hong Kong, 21–22

and money matters, 83, 92, 119, 195, 231, 326, 329, 346, 420, 456, 518, 519

in New Haven, 92, 98, 122, 229–31, 326, 332, 474

personal traits of, 6, 27, 108, 273–74, 577, 589

poems by, 122, 138, 367, 413, 577

Red Cross work of, 84, 122

and religion, 13, 139

schooling of, 4, 117

and TNW in Rome, 180, 186, 190–91

and wartime, 129, 134, 538, 551, 559, 562

Wilder, Janet Frances (sister):

birth of, 1, 35–36, 37

in California, 83

and Charlotte's illness, 696–97

childhood of, 138, 140, 369–70

engagement of, 508;
see also
Dakin, Janet Wilder

in England, 195, 205, 216, 323, 370

in Europe, 47, 49, 55, 66, 70

and independence, 368, 369, 411, 415

and money matters, 329

at Mount Holyoke, 370–71, 484, 508

in New Haven, 92, 98, 116, 122, 188, 234, 250, 326, 370

science interest of, 217, 370–71, 415, 417–18

as teacher, 484, 508

as writer, 371

Wilder, Julian (uncle), 22, 39, 114

Wilder, Theodore (no relation), 99, 109, 156–57

Wilder, Theophilus (grandfather), 2

Wilder, Theophilus (twin brother, stillborn), 1, 11, 682

Wilder, Thornton Niven:

as actor, 120, 465, 466, 469, 477, 495, 591–92, 607–8, 647

and aging, 674, 681–83, 690–95, 697–98, 700

and alcohol use, 630–32

awards and honors to, 157, 175, 313, 322, 352, 451, 549, 564–65, 591, 613, 616–17, 639, 640, 645, 660, 663, 666, 669

and biographers, 679–80

birth and childhood of, 1–2, 11, 13–14, 17–28, 32–35, 62

in California, 25–28, 37, 64, 66–70, 72–73, 74–75, 77–78, 83, 92–93

as camp counselor, 223–26

and Charlotte's illness, 518, 521–22, 524–25, 529, 534, 625

at Chefoo school, 40–49, 51, 52–54, 58, 59

in China, 38–49, 54–55, 57, 62–63

and Chrysler convertible, 484, 487–88, 494–96, 507

and clothes, 64, 78, 90, 91, 119, 120, 202–3

and college plans, 84, 88–92, 95, 124–25, 134, 144, 170

and death, 691–92

death and burial of, 699, 701–3

discipline of, 387–88, 476

and Eros, 609, 694–95

in Europe, 274, 275–79, 326–27, 400–401, 402–4, 408–10, 429–33, 442, 604–5, 614, 616, 622, 640, 646, 663–64, 665–66, 676–77

“An Evening with Thornton Wilder,” 653

evolution as a writer, 588–89, 641, 643, 673, 702–3

and existentialism, 571–72

and fame, 313–14, 317, 318, 321, 323, 324, 325, 333, 347, 408, 458, 651, 674–75

family background of, 2–4

and family obligations, 296–97, 347, 361, 364, 368–69, 420, 517, 534, 625, 634

and family separations, 47, 49, 57, 63, 67, 70, 71, 92, 138, 141, 366–67

family visits of, 144, 271–72, 273, 291, 294, 369

and farmwork, 81, 93, 100, 105, 106–11, 129, 134, 139–40, 141–44, 179

FBI investigation of, 495–97

financial support for family from, 205, 226–27, 231, 328–30, 398, 410, 412, 420, 517, 534

friendships of, 93, 99, 121, 136, 191, 260–62, 291–93, 353–56, 360, 395, 403, 413–14, 418–19, 430–31, 608–9, 651, 658–59, 679

health problems of, 214, 301, 339, 397–98, 563, 565–66, 611–12, 637, 664–65, 681–82, 690–91

and his brother, 63, 136–37, 154

and his father, 24, 33, 34–35, 39, 40, 42, 47, 49, 52, 58, 60, 63, 67–68, 72–73, 77–78, 84, 93, 104, 105, 108, 109, 110, 119–20, 124, 125–26, 130, 135, 145, 146–47, 159, 160, 164, 168, 178–79, 180–81, 188–89, 190, 193–96, 200–202, 212, 220, 227, 228–29, 235–36, 239, 260, 297, 368, 378, 410–11, 412, 413

and his mother, 28, 58, 59, 60, 63, 72, 74–75, 96, 110, 128, 190–91, 219–20, 226–27, 229–32, 271, 273–74, 298, 370, 379, 413, 417, 577, 579

in Hollywood, 383–87, 534–36

and home, 280–81, 362–66, 417

in Hong Kong, 19–25

journals of,
see
Wilder, Thornton Niven, journals of

at Lawrenceville, 202–5, 208–11, 214–15, 222, 231, 238, 245, 297–98, 300–301

at MacDowell Colony, 236–38, 272, 298, 327, 331, 425, 490, 491, 630, 665, 678

in Maine, 111–14

Marsh's portrait of, 174

as mentor, 650–51, 675–76

and money matters, 64, 89, 90–91, 100, 119, 121, 145, 190, 195–96, 200, 215, 226–27, 260, 274, 291, 296–97, 314, 325, 328–30, 338, 346–47, 360–61, 364–65, 386–87, 388, 394, 397, 398–99, 410, 412–13, 420, 456, 512, 518, 536, 591, 625, 660, 695–96

and music, 37, 70, 87, 97–98, 108, 215, 284, 608, 657

at Oberlin, 91–92, 94–98, 99–104, 114, 116, 117–22, 123, 124–26, 131–33, 134–36

as outsider, 63, 66, 90, 129, 159, 291

in Paris, 196–200, 216, 262, 283–84

and patriotism, 410, 429

personal traits of, 289–90, 300

at Princeton, 240, 251–52, 254, 259–60, 271, 273

privacy sought by, 256–59, 433–34, 438, 440, 500, 604

as public lecturer, 243, 316–17, 330–31, 338, 341, 344, 350, 351–52, 365, 386, 412, 592, 593, 597–98, 599–602, 609–13, 623, 644–45

and religion, 13, 62, 107–9, 122, 126, 137, 175, 192, 215, 267, 290, 351

restlessness of, 173, 294, 365, 369, 383, 430, 474, 480, 590, 604

in Rome, 180, 181–92, 193–94, 196, 216, 262, 278, 423–24, 441, 579

running cross-country, 44–45, 52

and
S4N,
177–78, 220, 243, 245

screenwriting, 383–87, 480, 482–83, 534–38, 620, 646

and sea travel, 182, 487, 664, 680

and sexuality, 171, 264, 336, 427–28, 433–40, 499, 603, 632–33, 694–95

solitude of, 44–45, 52, 71, 75, 112–13, 365, 404, 416–17, 430, 473, 494, 505, 506, 599, 604, 611–12, 631, 656

and spirituality, 97, 109, 215–16, 267, 312, 416, 439, 635, 669, 673, 703

and teaching, 83, 203–4, 209, 211, 214, 215–16, 220, 222, 228, 239–40, 303, 319, 328, 331, 345, 346, 360–61, 378, 393, 412, 420, 522

temperance pledge of, 55, 320, 358, 630

and the theater, 27, 28, 34–35, 72–73, 77, 84, 85–86, 241, 248, 349, 418, 419, 424, 660

on
Time
cover, 623

as tutor, 247–48, 274, 294, 298–99

as twinless twin, 1, 137, 307, 566, 682

on unamism, 199

at University of Chicago, 341, 345–46, 355, 365, 393, 412, 414–15, 420, 522–23

in West Indies, 416–17

and women, 99, 102, 156–57, 191, 247–48, 256–58, 260–62, 270–72, 283, 289, 291–92, 589–90, 672

and World War I, 128–31, 132–33, 134, 136, 145, 159, 160–61, 163, 164–66, 167–68, 169, 172

and World War II, 528, 529–30, 537, 538–41, 544, 545, 550–51, 553–54, 556–65, 569

writing ambitions of, 45, 88, 91, 95, 96, 125, 152, 153, 161, 178, 187, 194, 258–59, 347–48;
see also
Wilder, Thornton Niven, writings of

at Yale, 144–45, 146–53, 158–60, 170, 171, 173, 174–78

Wilder, Thornton Niven, journals of:

on European trip, 275–79

on “Induration,” 689

on journey to Hong Kong, 18

letter book, 222

on the nature of love, 632–34

notes on reading, 101, 212–14, 237–38, 334, 613, 637

notes on writings, 28, 100–101, 131, 306, 335, 337–38, 401, 402, 593–96, 598–99, 628, 635, 637–38, 642–43, 656, 689–90

at Oberlin, 131–33