Marya Mannes (November 14, 1904 – September 13, 1990) was a 20th-century

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer and critic, known for her caustic but insightful observations of American life. Mannes also wrote under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of "Sec."

Life and career

Mannes lived most of her life in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where she was born. Her brother was musician

Leopold Mannes Leopold Damrosch Mannes (December 26, 1899 – August 11, 1964) was an American musician, who, together with Leopold Godowsky Jr., created the first practical color transparency film, Kodachrome. Life and career Mannes was born in New York City. ...

. Her parents, Clara (Damrosch) Mannes and

David Mannes David Mannes (16 February 186625 April 1959) was an American violinist, conductor, educator, and community organizer. Biography David Mannes was born in New York in 1866. He studied the violin in Harlem with composer and violinist John Thomas D ...

, founded the

Mannes College of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School cam ...

in New York. Her maternal grandfather was conductor

Leopold Damrosch Leopold Damrosch (October 22, 1832 – February 15, 1885) was a German American orchestral conductor and composer. Biography Damrosch was born in Posen (Poznań), Kingdom of Prussia, the son of Heinrich Damrosch. His father was Jewish and his m ...

, and her maternal uncles were conductors

Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a German-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Ge ...

and

Frank Damrosch Frank Heino Damrosch (June 22, 1859 – October 22, 1937) was a German-born American music conductor and educator. In 1905, Damrosch founded the New York Institute of Musical Art, a predecessor of the Juilliard School. Life and career Damrosch w ...

. Her father was Jewish; her mother was from a mostly Lutheran German family (and was of part Jewish descent through her own grandfather). Mannes was an editor at ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' and later wrote prolifically for the magazines '' The Reporter'' and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. Mannes published a number of books of essays, sharply and wittily critical of American society, including ''More in Anger: Some Opinions, Uncensored and Unteleprompted''. She was a much-sought-after social commentator on radio and television. She hosted her own 13-week television show on New York's WNEW-TV in 1959, ''I Speak for Myself.'' Other books by Mannes included ''Subverse'' (1959), a satirical verse, ''Out of My Time'' (1971), an autobiography, and two novels, ''Message From a Stranger'' (1948), and ''They'' (1968). Mannes married three times; each union ended in divorce. Her first husband was Broadway scenic designer

Jo Mielziner Joseph "Jo" Mielziner (March 19, 1901 – March 15, 1976) was an American theatrical scenic, and lighting designer born in Paris, France. He was described as "the most successful set designer of the Golden era of Broadway", and worked on both sta ...

; they wed in 1926. She married artist Richard Blow in 1937, and then married British aircraft executive Christopher Clarkson in 1948. Mannes had one child, David, with second husband Richard Blow. She died in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

References

External links

Marya Mannes article at Encyclopædia Britannica

* ttp://cdm15264.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16075coll3/id/24 Marya Mannes "My Journey through Inner Space" The Baltimore Museum of Art: Baltimore, Maryland, 1965Accessed June 26, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mannes, Marya 1904 births 1990 deaths Writers from New York City American people of German-Jewish descent Jewish American writers Vogue (magazine) people American magazine editors Women magazine editors American women essayists The New Yorker people 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American Jews