Anne Commire

{{Short description|American playwright and editor (1939–2012)}}

File:Anne Commire.png

Anne Commire (11 August 1939 – 23 February 2012) was an American playwright and editor who frequently wrote about women's issues and struggles.{{cite web | title=Anne Commire dies at 72; playwright tackled women's hardships| website=Chicago Tribune | date=2012-04-05 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/la-me-anne-commire-20120405-story.html | access-date=2021-02-25}} Her first play, Shay, about a young pregnant high school dropout, was noted by The New York Times for having "sharp comic dialogue" despite the weighty subject matter.{{cite web | title=Stage: Anne Commire's 'Shay' | website=The New York Times | date=1978-03-08 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/08/archives/stage-anne-commmires-shay-selfwounding-clown.html | access-date=2021-03-03}}

Commire received the Eugene O'Neill Theater Award four times between 1973 and 1988.Valerie J, Nelson, [https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2012-apr-04-la-me-anne-commire-20120405-story.html Anne Commire dies at 72; playwright tackled women's hardships], Los Angeles Times, 4 April 2012 She wrote the teleplay Rebel for God for CBS, and also has written for Dick Cavett, and Washington D.C.’s Spread Eagle Review, and Mariette Hartley’s one-woman show.{{cite web | title=Author Bio: Anne Commire | website=Heinemann | date=2012-11-19 | url=https://www.heinemann.com/authors/1211.aspx | access-date=2021-02-25}} She and Hartley co-wrote Breaking the Silence which was Harley's memoir about her difficult early years and how Hartley would no longer be keeping the secrets of her earlier difficult life.{{cite web | title=No More Secrets| website=Chicago Tribune | date=1991-10-27 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-10-27-9104060633-story.html | access-date=2021-03-03}}

Commire was born in Wyandotte, Michigan and received a bachelor's degree in 1961 from Eastern Michigan University. She initially worked as a teacher and an editor for reference books for Gale Group. She later edited the sixteen-volume Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia which received the Dartmouth Medal for outstanding reference work in 2002.

Commire died of cancer in 2012 and her papers are held by the University of Southern Mississippi.{{cite web | title=Anne Commire Papers | website=The University of Southern Mississippi -- de Grummond Children's Literature Collection | url=https://lib.usm.edu/legacy/degrum/public_html/html/research/findaids/DG1302.html | access-date=2021-03-03}}{{cite web | title=Long Island's & NYC's News Source - Newsday | website=Newsday | url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/playwright-anne-commire-dies-at-72-1.3649578 | access-date=2021-03-03}}