John Luther Long

{{Short description|American lawyer and writer (1861-1927)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}

File:Portrait of John Luther Long.jpg

John Luther Long (January 1, 1861 – October 31, 1927) was an American lawyer and writer best known for his short story "Madame Butterfly", which was based on the recollections of his sister, Jennie Correll, who had been to Japan with her husband—a Methodist missionary.[https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadID=00080 John Luther Long: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center]

Biography

Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, Long had been admitted to the bar in Philadelphia on October 29, 1881, and become a practicing lawyer. On January 17, 1882, he married Mary Jane Sprenkle. He died at age 66 on October 31, 1927, having spent the last two months of his life at a sanatorium in Clifton Springs, New York. The obituary in The New York Times of November 1, 1927, quoted his own interpretation of himself as "a sentimentalist, and a feminist and proud of it"."[https://nyti.ms/3HkVIhM John Luther Long, Playwright, Dead]", New York Times. November 1, 1927.

With David Belasco he wrote the four act play Adrea which starred Mrs. Leslie Carter and which ran for 123 performances at the first Belasco Theatre.Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hishak, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DiI1wIyatvUC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq The Oxford Companion to American Theatre], Oxford University Press (2004) - Google Books pg. 12 His one act play Dolce was staged at the Manhattan Theater on April 24, 1906, starring Minnie Maddern Fiske."[https://nyti.ms/424og91 Mrs. Fiske Charming in Charming Short Play]", New York Times. April 25, 1906

Legacy

The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center has an extensive collection of his papers including correspondence and literary projects.

Plays

  • Andrea, written with David Belasco
  • Dolce, a one act play
  • Kassa{{Cite news |date=1909-01-08 |title=MRS. CARTER AS "KASSA."; Appears in John Luther Long's Tragic Play in Washington. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/01/08/archives/mrs-carter-as-kassa-appears-in-john-luther-longs-tragic-play-in.html |access-date=2023-11-17 |issn=0362-4331}}
  • The Darling of the Gods and Andrea

References

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