Ruth Pine Furniss


Ruth Pine Furniss was an American writer who published several short stories and novels.

Biography

Ruth Kellogg Pine Furniss was born on March 2, 1893, to Charles LeRoy and Grace Eddy Kellogg Pine in Lansingburg, New York. She attended the Emma Willard School and Miss Porter's School. She studied short story writing with Blanche Colton Williams at Columbia University and went on to publish a number of short stories and novels. In 1937, with the poet Weldon Kees, Furniss adapted her short story "Obsession" into a one-act play with the same title.
It is believed Furniss suffered from bipolar disorder, which was treated with periods of institutionalization, shock-therapy, a topectomy, and ultimately, a lobotomy. Furniss's writings drew on her struggle with illness and her exposure to various medical treatments, as can be seen in her novels Gay, Snow: A Love Story, and The Dreamland Tree. Furniss published The Layman Looks at Doctors under the pseudonyms S.W. and J.T. Pierce, who were a fictional couple.
In 1912, Furniss married Henry Dawson Furniss, with whom she had five children, three of whom survived childhood. The Furniss family lived in Pelham, New York, and in New York City. During World War II Furniss served as a Gray Lady with the Red Cross. Furniss was hospitalized at several points during her life, including periods at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center and Central Islip Psychiatric Center. Furniss died of a heart attack in December 1957, at the age of 64.

Novels

Short stories

  • "Sentence." Charm.
  • "Only Once." The New Eve.
  • "Relax." Chicago Sunday Tribune.
  • "Clay." Transition.
  • "Bess Does Her Best." Chicago Sunday Tribune.
  • "Answer." Transition. Reprinted in The Best Short Stories of 1930 edited by Edward J. O'Brien.
  • "Triangle." Harper's Bazaar
  • "Obsession." Story.

Articles

  • "Notes on Apprenticeship." The Editor, Vol. 73, No. 9.
  • "The Second Shall Be First." The Editor, Vol. 82, No. 11.

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