George Cram Cook or Jig Cook (October 7, 1873 – January 14, 1924) was an American theatre producer,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

, playwright, novelist, poet, and university professor. Believing it was his personal mission to inspire others, Cook led the founding of the

Provincetown Players The Provincetown Players was a collective of artists, writers, intellectuals, and amateur theater enthusiasts. Under the leadership of the husband and wife team of George Cram Cook, George Cram “Jig” Cook and Susan Glaspell from Iowa, the Play ...

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

in 1915; their "creative collective" was considered the first modern American theatre company. During his seven-year tenure with the group, Cook oversaw the production of nearly one-hundred new plays by fifty American playwrights. He is particularly remembered for producing the first plays of

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

, along with those of Cook's wife

Susan Glaspell Susan Keating Glaspell (July 1, 1876 – July 28, 1948) was an American playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. With her husband George Cram Cook, she founded the Provincetown Players, the first modern American theatre company. First known ...

, and several other noted writers. While teaching English literature at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

from 1896 to 1899, Cook also taught what is thought to be the first creative writing course. Titled "Verse-Making," the course was continued by Cook's colleagues at the university after he left. It was not until the 1950s that the

Iowa Writers Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wr ...

was founded.

Biography

Cook wrote: "I was born and raised in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, where my family was one of the town's oldest and most wealthy. My father, a corporate lawyer, strongly encouraged my education from a young age, while my mother instilled in me a passion for culture and the arts. I completed my bachelor's degree at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1893." He continued his studies in Europe at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in 1894 and at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

the following year. Upon completing these studies, Cook returned to Iowa. He taught English literature and classics at the

from 1895 until 1899. He also taught an early creative writing course, which he called "Verse Making". During the 1902 academic year, Cook was an English professor at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. It was not until the 1950s that

Paul Engle Paul Engle (October 12, 1908 – March 22, 1991), was an American poet, editor, teacher, literary critic, novelist, and playwright. He is remembered as the long-time director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and as co-founder of the International W ...

is credited with developing what is considered the world's first creative writing program, the

Iowa Writer's Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wri ...

, which has gained renown. In Davenport, Cook associated with other young writers in what was informally referred to as the Davenport group. Among them was writer

. He divorced his second wife, Molly Price, with whom he had two children Nilla (b. 1908) and Harlan "Harl" (b. 1910) and he and Glaspell married in 1913. To escape community gossip and seek larger world for their work, the couple moved to New York City, where they lived in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. In the summer of 1915 they went to

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...

for the season, as did many other writers and artists from the Village. Cook was among the founders of the

that year, an important step in the development of American

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. The group would perform works by Cook and Glaspell, as well as the first plays of

and

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

, among others. Cook would lead the Provincetown Players until 1919, at which time he took a sabbatical. Although he returned to the group in 1920, internal wrangling and his own frustration led to his effectively abandoning the cooperative.

Later years

In 1922, Cook and his family moved to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. They lived at

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...

, where they spent the summers camped in spruce huts high above the village on

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

. After a short time, Cook began to wear ''

fustanella Fustanella (for spelling in various languages, see chart below) is a traditional pleated skirt-like garment that is also referred to as a kilt worn by men of many nations in the Balkans (Southeast Europe). In modern times, the fustanella is par ...

'', the traditional Greek shepherd's attire. In 1924 he contracted a rare infectious disease from his pet dog and died. Cook's obituary appeared on the front page of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. He is buried at Delphi in a small cemetery within hundreds of feet of the ruins of the famous Temple of Apollo, home of the

oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

. So beloved was Cook by the locals that the Greek government allowed a stone from the temple foundation to be used as his grave marker. Years later his daughter

Nilla Cram Cook Nilla Cram Cook (December 21, 1908 – October 11, 1982), also known as Nila Nagini Devi, was an American writer, linguist, translator, and arts patron. Early life Nilla Cram Cook was born in Davenport, Iowa, the daughter of playwright Geor ...

was buried beside him.

Partial bibliography

Plays *(1914) ''Suppressed Desires''; co-written with

. *(1915) ''Change Your Style''. *(1918) ''The Athenian Women''. *(1918) ''Tickless Time''; co-written with Susan Glaspell. *(1921) ''The Spring''. Novels *(1903) ''Roderick Taliaferro: A Story of Maximilian's Empire''. *(1911) ''The Chasm''. Poetry *(1925) ''Greek Coins''; published posthumously with essays by

Floyd Dell Floyd James Dell (June 28, 1887 – July 23, 1969) was an American newspaper and magazine editor, literary critic, novelist, playwright, and poet. Dell has been called "one of the most flamboyant, versatile and influential American Men of Letters ...

Edna Kenton Edna Kenton (March 17, 1876 – February 28, 1954) was an American writer and literary critic. Kenton is best remembered for her 1928 work ''The Book of Earths,'' which collected various unusual and controversial theories about a hollow earth, Atl ...

, and Susan Glaspell. Non-fiction *(1899) ''Company B of Davenport''.

References

External links

"The Amateur: George Cram Cook" (a chapter from ''Contour in Time: The Plays of Eugene O'Neill'')
Eugene O'Neill website

University of Iowa
"Going Native": The Unusual Case of George Cram Cook
Natalia Vogeikoff
"Famous Iowans: George Cram Cook" (''Des Moines Register'')

"George Cram Cook"
biographical essay at Davenport Public Library
Cook's 1923 passport photo

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, George Cram 1873 births 1924 deaths Writers from Davenport, Iowa 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American novelists Modernist theatre Harvard University alumni Heidelberg University alumni Stanford University Department of English faculty Infectious disease deaths in Greece American male novelists American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Iowa

Biography

Later years

Partial bibliography

Further reading

References

External links