Irving Fiske
Irving Fiske | |
---|---|
Born | Irving Louis Fishman March 5, 1908 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
Died | April 25, 1990 Monroe Regional Medical Center Ocala, Florida | (aged 82)
Other names | "The Forest Wizard" "The Socrates of Ocala Forest" |
Alma mater | Cornell University, 1928 |
Occupation(s) | playwright, writer, and public speaker |
Known for | Quarry Hill Creative Center |
Spouse | Barbara Fiske Calhoun (m. 1946 – div. 1976) |
Children | Isabella Fiske (b. 1950) William Fiske (1954-2008) |
Family | (brothers): Milton and Robert (sister) Miriam |
Irving L. Fiske (born Irving Louis Fishman; March 5, 1908 – April 25, 1990) was an American
Biography
Fiske was born in
Fiske wrote for
On January 8, 1946, Fiske married artist and cartoonist Barbara Hall, later Barbara Fiske Calhoun. In 1946, he and his wife, both profoundly unconventional bohemian intellectuals, used wedding money to buy the Loren Spencer hill farm in Rochester[2] that later became Quarry Hill Creative Center, in Rochester, Vermont.[1][3]
Fiske joined
In the mid-1960s, Barbara opened a storefront, The Gallery Gwen, in New York's
Hundreds of young people, including many who became well-known, such as Art Spiegelman (who dated, and lived with, Fiske's daughter Isabella)[6] and Stephen Huneck, began to visit Quarry Hill Creative Center. Many stayed to build houses; Quarry Hill is now the oldest and largest alternative lifestyle group in Vermont, and one of the largest in New England.[7]
A controversial figure, in the 1970s, when his cabin in the Ocala Forest was burnt by arsonists, and the authorities did not give him a permit to rebuild, he launched a legal and media battle, claiming that the authorities were prejudiced against the young people he brought there as his friends, most of whom had long hair. He eventually got the permit and rebuilt the cabin.
Fiske and his wife divorced in 1976. After a period of some tension, he and Barbara reached a state of friendliness and mutual support, with the shared desire to see Quarry Hill continue. With the assistance of her son, William, and others, Barbara created a corporation to own the land.
Fiske — who went on with all the activities that entertained him and promoted a more sane future for humanity—became well known in the counterculture both in the United States and elsewhere. He died of a stroke in
Hamlet in Modern English
Fiske's translation of Hamlet into modern English was never published, but was performed in public several times, once at Rollins College in Winter Park,Florida.[citation needed]
In 1947, Fiske filed a lawsuit against Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock for infringing upon Hamlet in Modern English. In 1945, Hitchcock had announced plans to make a modern-language version of Hamlet. Although the project was dropped, Fiske claimed Hitchcock and Grant had plagiarized Fiske's concept, and sought damages of $1.25 million (later reduced to $750,000).
The case was eventually heard in October 1954 by New York Federal Court Judge William Bondy. After 11 days of testimony, Judge Bondy halted the trial and directed the jury to find the case "not proven." Fiske was later ordered to pay $5,000 towards Hitchcock's legal costs.[citation needed]
Fiske's translation of Hamlet was considered controversial. In the 1960s,
Bibliography
- "Pecos Bill, Cyclone Buster," American Mercury (Dec. 1939), pp. 403–407.
- "Where Does Television Belong?" Harper's Magazine (February 1940).
- "Bernard Shaw's Debt to William Blake." [19-page pamphlet] (London: The Shaw Society, 1951). Reprinted in G. B. Shaw: A Collection of Critical Essays, ed. R. J. Kaufmann (Englewood Cliffs,. N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1965).
- "Letters to the Editor: Not a 'Hippy'," Ocala Star-Banner (May 25, 1971).
- (with Allen Sherman -not the song writer) Brighter than the Sun (1987) [play][10] — produced in Vermont
References
Notes
- ^ a b c d e “Irving L. Fiske, 82: Created Community for Workers in Arts,” The New York Times (May 1, 1990)
- ^ "Notable deaths last week," Daily Herald (May 3, 2014).
- Vermont College, credits Quarry Hill and The North Hollow School with being a model for the many alternative schools that sprang up in Vermont in the 1970s and onward.
- ^ Spiegelman, Art. MetaMaus (New York: Pantheon, 2011), pp. 24–25: "...my hippie girlfriend's father, Irving Fiske — the Mr. Natural of the commune I was involved with..."
- ^ Stacy, Mitch. "Author Irving Fiske, 'Socrates of Ocala Forest,' dies at 82," The Gainesville Sun (April 1990).
- ^ Spiegelman, Art (2011). MetaMaus. New York: Random House. pp. 24–25.
- ^ Hartmann, Thom. The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight (New York: Three Rivers Press / Random House, 2004), pp. 309-11, 315 — calls Quarry Hill "The oldest "intentional community in Vermont"
- ^ Ciardi, John. "Translating 'Hamlet,' " Saturday Review (August 3, 1963).
- ^ Dotson, Kevin. "Irving Fiske, noted for essays, modern version of Hamlet; at 82," The Boston Sunday Globe (April 29, 1990).
- ^ "Quarry Hill Players stage play written by Vermonters," The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, (October 14, 1987).
Sources
- Braunstein, Peter and Michael W. Doyle, eds. Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960s and 70s. New York: Routledge, 2002. P. 330.
- George Bernard Shaw archives at the University of Texas, including communication between Fiske and Shaw
- Trausch, V. "Where Have All the Flower Children Gone?" Boston Globe Sunday Magazine (August 2, 1987). Archived at the University of Vermont
- The WPA Guide to New York City. ISBN 1-56584-321-5. (See chapter on Wall Street for an example of Irving Fiske's style)
- article on Hollywood screenwriter J. Kitchen, who studied playwriting with Irving Fiske
- Online Journal, La Boutique: reference, in French, to I. Fiske's article, "Where Does Television Belong?" [dead link]
- Winchell, Walter. "On-Broadway," New York Daily Mirror (late 1940s–early 1950s) — about Shaw and Fiske
Obituaries
- Allen, Monica. The Rutland Herald (April 29, 1990).
- "Communal Living Pioneer Irving Fiske dead at 82," The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press (April 30, 1990).
- The International Herald Tribune (May 1990).
- "Quarry Hill Founder Dead at 82," The Herald of Randolph (Vt.) (May 3, 1990).