Mary McCarthy

Mary Therese McCarthy (June 21 1912 - October 25 1989) was an American author and critic. She was politically active in left-wing politics for many years.

Related Topics:
June 21 - 1912 - October 25 - 1989 - American - Left-wing politics

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Born in Seattle, Washington, McCarthy was orphaned at the age of six, both her parents dying in the great flu epidemic of 1918. She was raised in very unhappy circumstances by her two sets of Catholic grandparents, which would lead her to ultimately leave the Church. Her actor brother, Kevin McCarthy went on to star in such movies as Death of a Salesman (1951) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).

Related Topics:
Seattle, Washington - Great flu epidemic - 1918 - Kevin McCarthy - Death of a Salesman - 1951 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1956

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She grew up in Seattle and graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1933. She left the Church as a young woman. She moved in Communist circles early in her life, but later repudiated Communism and wrote vigorously against writers she considered to be sympathetic to Stalinism.

Related Topics:
Vassar College - Poughkeepsie, New York - 1933 - Communism - Stalinism

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She married several times. Her best known spouse was the critic Edmund Wilson, whom she married in 1938. She also maintained a close friendship, and a sizable correspondence, with Hannah Arendt.

Related Topics:
Edmund Wilson - 1938 - Hannah Arendt

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McCarthy enjoyed some popular success when her novel The Group remained on The New York Times best-seller list for almost two years.

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Her feud with fellow writer Lillian Hellman went on in public for decades, and formed the basis for the play Imaginary Friends by Nora Ephron. McCarthy famously said on The Dick Cavett Show that "every word (Hellman) writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'." Hellman responded by filing a $2.5 million libel suit against McCarthy but died before it reached a conclusion. http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/k/kiernan-mary.html

Related Topics:
Lillian Hellman - Nora Ephron - The Dick Cavett Show

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McCarthy died on October 25, 1989 of cancer in New York City at the age of 77.

Related Topics:
October 25 - 1989 - New York City

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It was assumed that the lawsuit would end with Hellman's death, but it did not--ending only with McCarthy's death in 1989, 5 years after Hellman died.

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