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Florida Scott-Maxwell
Florida Scott-Maxwell ca. 1910
by Amanda Brewster Sewell
Born
Florida Pier

(1883-09-14)14 September 1883
Orange Park, Florida
Died6 March 1979(1979-03-06) (aged 95)
Exeter, England
OccupationWriter
Spouse
John Maxwell Scott-Maxwell
​
​
(m. 1910⁠–⁠1929)​
ending in divorce

Florida Pier Scott-Maxwell (14 September 1883 - 6 March 1979) was a playwright, author and psychologist.

Biography

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Florida Pier was born in Orange Park, Florida on September 24, 1883, and was raised in Pittsburgh, living with her father's side of the family, who were Unitarians.[1][2] She was educated at home until the age of ten.[3] After then, she went to art school until she was 13 and then went to a drama school in New York City.[1] Scott-Maxwell had small Broadway roles at age 16.[4] She acted with the Edwin Mayo Theater Company.[5] Around age 20, she first started writing and publishing short stories.[1][6] Florida Pier became the first woman on the staff at the New York Evening Sun where she had a weekly column.[1]

In 1910 she married John Maxwell Scott-Maxwell and moved to her husband's native Scotland, and lived in Baillieston House 6 miles east of Glasgow where she worked for women's suffrage and as a playwright.[3]

They had four children: sons Stephen, Peter and Denis, and a daughter Hilary. The couple divorced in 1929 and she moved to London.[1] Her second play, Many Women was staged at the Arts Theatre in 1932.[5]

In 1933 she studied Jungian psychology under Carl Jung and practised as an analytical psychologist in both England and Scotland.[4] During World War II, she worked on her psychological practice in Edinburgh.[1] Later, she moved to Exeter.[1] During this time, she also worked for the BBC as a commentator.[1] The BBC interviewed her about aging in July of 1954.[7] She maintained her psychological practice for around 25 years.[8]

Her most famous book is The Measure of My Days (1968).[3]

Scott-Maxwell died in Exeter, England on 6 March 1979.[5]

Work

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Scott-Maxwell's first play, The Flash Point (1914) was a feminist work.[1] Later, she continued to write as a way to earn a living, creating short stories, reviews and more.[1] Her second play, Many Women, was published in 1932.[1]

Her first book, Towards Relationship, was published in 1933.[1] The book, Women and Sometimes Men (1957) is a psychological book written for general consumption.[9] The book touches on themes of femininity, masculinity and the relationship of these concepts to modern life.[9] The book also addresses difficulties women encounter while trying to continue their own sense of individuality when they are filling traditional gender roles.[5]

Scott-Maxwell's Measure of My Days (1968) was written first as a journal when the writer was in her 80s and living in a nursing home.[10][11] Scott-Maxwell writes about old age with passion and curiosity in her journal.[12]

Selected works

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  • The Power of Ancestors (short story, 1906)[13]
  • Musty, Dusty Mr. Cullender (short story, 1910)[14]
  • Mrs Nolly's Real Self (short story, 1911)[15]
  • The Flash-Point. A play in three acts. 1914[16]
  • The Kinsmen Knew How to Die (as "Florida Pier", with Sophie Botcharsky, 1931).[17]
  • Pray for the Princess (short story, 1931)[18]
  • Many Women (play) 1932. Produced at the Arts Theatre, London.[5]
  • Towards relationship (non-fiction) 1939[19]
  • I Said to Myself (play) 1946. Produced at the Mercury Theatre, London[20]
  • Women and Sometimes Men (non-fiction) 1957 [21]
  • The Measure of My Days (autobiography) 1968[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Berman, Harry J. (1994). Interpreting the Aging Self: Personal Journals of Later Life. New York: Springer Publishing Co. pp. 143–144. ISBN 9780826180605.
  2. ^ "Notable Women M". Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
  3. ^ a b c Harmon, Gary (1992). McCarthy, Kevin (ed.). The Book-lovers' Guide to Florida. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-56164-012-6 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ a b Koster, Michael (4 April 1997). "Celebrating Age as Passionate and Intense Time". Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 81. Retrieved 5 December 2024 – via Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ a b c d e Harris, Miriam Kalman (2000). "Scott-Maxwell, Florida". American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide. ISBN 1558624295 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Nelson-Becker, Holly; Gilbert, M. Carlean (2016). "Spirituality and Older Women: The Journey Home to Self". In Kilbane, Teresa; Spira, Marcia (eds.). Older Women: Current and Future Challenges of Professionals with an Aging Population. Bentham Science Publishers. pp. 175–176. ISBN 9781681083490.
  7. ^ "Age Can Be Absorbing". Ipswich Queensland Times. 2 July 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 10 December 2024 – via Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ Rose, Phyllis, ed. (1993). The Norton Book of Women's Lives. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 703. ISBN 978-0-393-03532-2 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ a b Allenby, Amy I. (January 1958). "Women and Sometimes Men (Book)". Journal of Analytical Psychology. 3 (1): 85–87 – via EBSCO.
  10. ^ "Southern Elders Older, Wiser, Stronger". Aging: 27. June 1985 – via Gale.
  11. ^ Friend, Tad (20 November 2017). "Getting On". The New Yorker. Vol. 93, no. 37. p. 46. ProQuest 1968443953 – via ProQuest.
  12. ^ Clance, Pauline Rose (1980). "Scott-Maxwell, Florida (1883-1977)". American Notes & Queries Supplement. Vol. 2: First Person Female American. pp. 347–348 – via EBSCO Connect.
  13. ^ Pier, Florida (1906). "The Power of Ancestors". The Century Magazine. 71: 445.
  14. ^ Pier, Florida (1910). "Musty, Dusty Mr. Cullender". Munsey's Magazine. 42: 389.
  15. ^ Pier, Florida (1911). "Mrs Nolly's Real Self". Harper's Magazine. Vol. 123. p. 786.
  16. ^ British Library Catalogue #002433558
  17. ^ British Library Catalogue #007561320
  18. ^ Pier, Florida (1931). "Pray for the Princess". Life and Letters. 6: 50.
  19. ^ British Library Catalogue #007571811
  20. ^ "The Theatres". The Times. London. 26 May 1947. p. 6.
  21. ^ British Library Catalogue #002433561
  22. ^ "Scott-Maxwell, Florida 1883-1979" at the OCLC
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