by Paula Becker
Betty MacDonald Archives, Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association Museum, Vashon
Betty MacDonald’s family archives, accessed summer–fall 2014
Monterey Public Library California History Room Collection, Monterey
National Personnel Records Center and Military Personnel Records, St. Louis, Missouri
Zola Helen Ross Papers, University of Washington Special Collections, Seattle, Washington
George Milton Savage Family Papers, University of Washington Special Collections, Seattle, Washington
Seattle Public Schools Archives, Seattle, Washington
Albert H. Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia (Betty MacDonald letter, 1950, accession no. 11708)
Universal-International Pictures Collection, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
University of Washington Registrar’s Records, unofficial transcripts
U.S. Federal Census Collection, multiple years, accessed via Ancestry.com
FILMS
The Egg and I (Universal 100th Anniversary Collection, 2012)
Ma and Pa Kettle Complete Comedy Collection (Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2011)
Mother Didn’t Tell Me (20th Century Fox Cinema Archives, 2012)
IMAGE CREDITS
Note: credit name, where provided, refers to the image’s copyright holder
PLATE 1. Cleve, Betsy, and Mary Bard. Private collection.
PLATE 2. Betty Bard Macdonald’s birthplace. Boulder Public Library Carnegie Branch for Local History, Image 5–475 (207–15–7 #1).
PLATE 3. Cleve and Darsie Bard. Private collection.
PLATE 4. Montana School of Mines. Owen Smithers Collection (PH358), Butte–Silver Bow Public Archives.
PLATE 5. Laurelhurst house. Puget Sound Regional Branch, Washington State Archives.
PLATE 6. St. Nicholas School students. Jane Carlson Williams ’60 Archives, Lakeside School.
PLATE 7. Blanche Hamilton. Katy von Brandenfels.
PLATE 8. Margaret Bundy Callahan. Mikell Callahan.
PLATE 9. Betsy Bard and friends. Private collection.
PLATE 10. Betty Bard and Margaret Bundy Callahan. Mikell Callahan.
PLATE 11. Betty and Bob Heskett’s Chimacum house. Jefferson County Historical Society, Photo No. 28.82.
PLATE 12. Anybody house. Puget Sound Regional Branch, Washington State Archives.
PLATE 13. Betty’s younger sister, Dede Bard. Private collection.
PLATE 14. Betty’s daughters, Anne and Joan Heskett. Private collection.
PLATE 15. Firland Sanatorium. Seattle Municipal Archives, Item No. 2655.
PLATE 16. Vashon Island house. Puget Sound Regional Branch, Washington State Archives.
PLATE 17. Bernice Baumgarten. Bernice Baumgarten, Family Pictures, Single Portraits of Female Relations, undated; James Gould Cozzens Papers, 1878–1978, Box 50, Folder 6, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
PLATE 18. The Egg and I original cover. Author’s collection.
PLATE 19. The Egg and I reprinted cover with Betty MacDonald photo. Author’s collection.
PLATE 20. Joan, Betty, and Anne MacDonald. Museum of History and Industry, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection (Neg. # 200.107_print_MacDonaldBetty).
PLATE 21. Betty MacDonald riding the Vashon Island ferry. Private collection.
PLATE 22. Betty MacDonald signs Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Museum of History and Industry, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection (Neg. # 1986.5.33860.1).
PLATE 23. Howe Street house. Puget Sound Regional Branch, Washington State Archives.
PLATE 24. Betty and Don MacDonald. Museum of History and Industry, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection (Neg. # 1986.5.33860.2).
PLATE 25. Press agent Jim Moran. Author’s collection.
PLATE 26. Betty MacDonald and Claudette Colbert. Copyright 1946, Universal-International Pictures. Author’s collection.
PLATE 27. Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert. Copyright Universal- International Pictures, 1947. Private collection.
PLATE 28. Betty’s family in Hollywood. Private collection.
PLATE 29. Don and Betty MacDonald, Alison Bard Sugia, and Frank Sugia. Private collection.
PLATE 30. Betty MacDonald promoting National Tuberculosis Association’s Christmas Seals. Private collection.
PLATE 31. Betty MacDonald signing The Plague and I. University Book Store.
PLATE 32. Betty MacDonald, Mary Bard Jensen, and Sydney Bard. Private collection.
PLATE 33. Susannah and Albert Bishop. Aldena Bishop.
PLATE 34. Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride. Private collection.
PLATE 35. Betty and Don MacDonald in King County Courthouse. Museum of History and Industry, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection (Neg. # 1986.5.33864.3).
PLATE 36. Betty MacDonald publicizing Anybody Can Do Anything. Private collection.
PLATE 37. Betty MacDonald, Anne MacDonald Evans, and Joan MacDonald Keil. Private collection.
PLATE 38. Betty MacDonald with grandchildren. Private collection.
PLATE 39. Betty MacDonald autographing Onions in the Stew. Private collection.
PLATE 40. Don and Betty MacDonald in Carmel Valley. Private collection.
TEXT PERMISSIONS
Permission to quote from Betty MacDonald’s unpublished letters and from The Plague and I, Anybody Can Do Anything, and Onions in the Stew courtesy Brandt & Hochman Literary Agency, representatives for the literary estate of Betty MacDonald (Anne MacDonald Canham, Heidi Keil Richards, Toby Keil, Kallyn Keil, and Jerrica Keil).
Permission to quote from the unpublished letters of Mary Bard Jensen courtesy Mari Jensen Clack and the Lilly Library.
Permission to quote from Blanche Hamilton Hutchings Caffiere’s unpublished letters and from Much Laughter, a Few Tears courtesy Jill Andrews.
Permission to quote from Margaret Callahan: Mother of Northwest Art, compiled and edited by Brian Toby Callahan, courtesy Mikell K. Callahan.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not exist without the support and encouragement of members of Betty MacDonald’s family, especially Betty’s daughter Anne MacDonald Canham, Betty’s granddaughter Heidi Keil Richards, and her late grandson Tim Keil. My deepest thanks to them all.
Many thanks also to Mary Jo Keil, Kim Richards, Steve and Carol Goldsmith, Chris Goldsmith, Mari Jensen Clack, Salli Jensen Rogers, Heidi Jensen Rabel, and Darsie Beck.
Deepest thanks to the late Blanche Hamilton Caffiere, Betty’s longtime pal and a treasured friend of mine for not nearly long enough, and to her daughter Jill Andrews for her ongoing support and counsel.
My sincere thanks to the longtime Betty MacDonald researcher Cathy Bredlau, whose knowledge of all aspects of Betty’s life is voluminous and whose generosity in sharing her research with me, answering my questions, and serving as a sounding board greatly influenced and enhanced this project.
This book could have been subtitled A Love Story about the Research Process. Thanks to these archives, archivists, libraries, librarians, and volunteers who helped with this delightful treasure hunt: Philippa Stairs, Midori Okazaki, and Michael Saunders at the Puget Sound branch of the Washington State Archives; Greg Lange at King County Archives; Victoria Stiles at the Shoreline Historical Museum; Rayna Holtz, formerly librarian at the Vashon branch of the King County Library System, who was for many years the keeper of that library’s burgeoning Betty MacDonald collection; Laurie Tucker at the Vashon branch of the King County Library System and at the Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Museum; Jefferson County Historical Society archivist Marsha Moratti and volunteers Jesse Stewerd, Mary Stolaas, Charlie Petersen, and Pam Wilson; Aaren Purcell and Maria Elena of the Seattle Public Schools Archives; Alison Costanza at the Northwest Branch of the Washington State Archives; all past and present staff of the University of Washington Special Collections, especially Anne Jenner, Gary Lundell, Jim Stack, and Jen
nifer MacDowell; Zoe Ann Stoltz at the Montana Historical Society; Caroline Marr and Kristen Hallunen at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle; Jodee Fenton, John LaMont, Chuck Kwong, Bo Kenney, Ann Ferguson, and all past and present staff of the Seattle Public Library’s Seattle Room; Betty Lewis and Margaret Buechel at the Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Museum; Gayle Richardson, longtime children’s librarian at the Northeast Branch of the Seattle Public Library, now retired; Lakeside School archivist Leslie Schuyler, who gave me access to Lakeside’s archival holdings from St. Nicholas School; University of Southern California Cinematic Arts Library archivists Edward Comstock and Sandra Garcia-Meyers; Princeton University Library reference librarian Gabriel Swift; University of South Carolina Libraries Special Collections archivist Jeffrey Makala; Janet Irwin of the Multnomah County Library; Carmel Valley Historical Society volunteers Elizabeth Barratt and Jeff Ohlson; Monterey Public Library California History Room archivist Dennis Copeland; Sean Lanksbury at the Washington State Archives; Kim Murphy Kohn, Nikole Evankovich, and Ellen Crain, Butte–Silver Bow Public Archives; Conor Cote and Connie Dougherty, Montana Tech of the University of Montana Library Archives and Special Collections; Margaret Hrabe, University of Virginia Library Special Collections; Heather Cole, Harvard University’s Houghton Library; Joy Werlink, Washington State Historical Society Archives; George Meek, Placerville Historic Preservation Commission; Wendy Hall and Marti Anderson at Boulder Public Library’s Carnegie Branch for Local History; and Eileen McHugh, Cayuga Museum of History and Art in Auburn, New York.
Thanks always to HistoryLink.org, the free online encyclopedia of Washington State history—and especially to its cofounder, the late, great Walt Crowley. Thanks also to my wonderful HistoryLink colleagues, especially John Caldbick, Priscilla Long, Alan Stein, Jennifer Ott, Kit Oldham, Pete Blecha, and Marie McCaffrey.
Thanks to all those who agreed to be interviewed or grant house access and those who facilitated those interviews, including Tanya Roesijadi; Katy McCoy and Phil Vogelzang; Abigail Carter; Diana Hoguet; Dave Larson, the late Ilah Larson Moody, and the late Aldena Bishop, with further thanks to Aldena’s children Jim, Loren, Linda, and Carol; Denise Frisino and the late Harriette Frisino; Paul Guimarin; Jill Meyers; Nancy Wilson; David Martin; Mikell Callahan and the late Brian Tobey Callahan; Marjorie Boyd; Gail McNealy; George Huntingford Sr.; David Buerge; Ann Combs, who spoke with me about her aunt, the late Sylvia Gowen, one of Betty’s lifelong friends; Sylvia Gowen’s son, the late Rodney Wells-Henderson; and Randy Bannecker and Joe Bannecker.
Thanks to the University of Washington Press, especially Regan Huff, Tom Eykemans, Nancy Cortelyou, Rachael Levay, Casey LaVela, Puja Boyd, and Whitney Johnson. Thanks to Tom DesLongchamp for his perfect cover art and to Erika Büky for her thoughtful edit. Thanks (again!) to Panda Photographic Lab, especially to miracle worker Mary Fleenor.
Thanks to those who read this material in draft: Barry Brown, Priscilla Long, Jennifer Ott, Cathy Bredlau, Peter Andersen, Patrick Shanahan, Karen Maeda Allman, Mark Reavis, Nicole von Gaza- Reavis, Meaghan Dowling, and Heidi Keil Richards. Thanks especially to my anonymous peer reviewers, whose insight and suggestions I greatly appreciate.
Many friends have been deeply supportive of this project over the long haul. These include Sally James, Patrick Shanahan, Karen Maeda Allman, Lisa Rivera, Peter Andersen, Harriet Baskas, Amy Caldwell, and Greg Lange.
I thank the legendary Seattle bookseller LeRoy Soper; literary agents Charles Schlessiger and Marianne Merola of Brandt & Hochman; Vaun Raymond; Casey McNerthney; Sara Jane Hall at BBC Radio 4; Paul Dorpat; Diana James; the Seattle Genealogical Society; Seattle public radio station KUOW and host Amanda Wilde for broadcasting all those hits from Betty’s era on their wonderful weekly program The Swing Years; the band Solas for their album Shamrock City, an inspiring tribute to the singular city of Butte; Jeff and Stephanie Hritsco, the Loft at Metals Bank, Butte; Richard Gibson, Butte Historical Adventures; Mark A. Reavis and Nicole von Gaza-Reavis of Butte Urban Safari Tours; the staff at the Mount Moriah Cemetery, Butte; Jill Saleri, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Butte; the World Museum of Mining, Butte; the Copper King Mansion, Butte; Lori Hunter of Boulder Walking Tours; the Rev. Susan W. Springer, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Boulder; the Jefferson County Title Company; Vashon Print and Design; Jeannie Hale of the Laurelhurst Community Club; Lauren Baldwin; Debbie Covey; Rene Kirkpatrick; David Williams; W. D. King; Heather Henderson; Carlyn Craig; Gary K. Marshall; Scott Hennessy; Christine Barrett; Alexandra Boiger; Ron Edge; Junius Rochester; Katy von Brandenfels and Emily Brandenfels; John Longenbaugh; the Book Club of Washington. And to everyone I am inadvertently neglecting to name—thank you.
Thanks to my mother, Shirleen Becker, and my sister, Susan Becker, on whom I pressed all Betty’s books as I discovered them and whom I soon forced to listen to my ponderings, reflections, questions, and conclusions about all things Betty and Mary. Thanks to my father, David Becker, for his ever-ready explanations of obscure technology, and to my brother, Matthew Becker and brother-in-law Kevin Hamilton for their unflagging enthusiasm. Thanks to my father-in-law, Stuart L. Brown, for all his help in Carmel Valley.
Finally, and most heartily, thanks to my husband, Barry Brown, and our children, Hunter, Sawyer, and Lillie, who grew up with Betty and Mary as almost tangible presences in our house. I would (as Betty would say) crawl over broken glass to tell you how much your support means to me.
INDEX
The index that appeared in the print version of this title was intentionally removed from the eBook. Please use the search function on your eReading device for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below
A
Abby (later owner of Vashon Island house)
abuse, spousal
Academy Award nomination
Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium (New York)
adoption
Adrian (designer)
Agee Ranch, NV
Alaska Building, Seattle
alcohol and alcoholism. See also moonshine
Allbritton, Louise
Alpha Phi sorority
“Alty.” See Bard, Alison
Amalgamated Cooper Mining Company (ACM)
Americana
American Alarm Co.
American District Telegraph Co.
American Smelting and Engineering Co.
Anaconda smelter
Anaconda Standard
Angell, H. Frank
animated trailer for Egg and I film
Anne (daughter). See MacDonald, Anne
Anselmo mine
Anti-Tuberculosis League of King County
Anybody Can Do Anything (MacDonald): Betty’s presence in
content of
copies of
cover design
film negotiations with Columbia Pictures
gender roles in
home described in
jobs described in
Mary and authorship of
Onions in the Stew compared to
publicity
Seattle described in
serialization of
Sylvia erased in
“Their Families” and
timing and reception of
in translation for Iron Curtain countries
writing of
Anybody house
decline and demolition of
archives of Betty’s letters
Arctic Club, Seattle
Arnold, Lesley (character)
“Around Town” column (Town Crier)
art and artists
Arthur, Jean
Atlantic Monthly: The Egg and I serialized in
Atlantic Monthly Press
Atlantic Prize submission
attorneys. See also Guttormsen, George; lawsuits and court cases
Auburn, NY
“authing,”
autobiographical books. See Anybody Can Do Anything; The Egg and I; Onions in the Stew;
The Plague and I
autographing and autograph parties
B
Baird, Dorothy
baptisms: Betty
Cleve
Mary
Bard, Alison Cleveland (later Sugia; Beck; Burnett) (sister): 15th Ave. house in name of
in 1930 census
about
as aunt
Betty babysitting for
birth of
feuding with
gypsum mine income and
mentioned
photographs of
at Roosevelt District house, Seattle
schooling
Seattle, return to
stillborn daughter of
as witness at Betty and Don’s wedding
Bard, Betty. See MacDonald, Betty
Bard, Cleve (Sidney Cleveland) (brother): in 1930 census
in 1933
about
archery and
baptism of
birth of
Bob Heskett and
childhood
in Chimacum
dairy farm and
Don MacDonald and
in family of women
feuding with
gypsum mine income and
Jens and Mary’s beach house and
mentioned
photographs of
schooling
Seattle, return to
spelling of name
Vashon bridge effort
Vashon road construction
Bard, Darsie Cleveland (father): about
background
in Betty’s books
in Butte
career
death of
Dede, relationship with
engagement and elopement
funeral for
at Harvard
mineralogy pamphlets later found in Laurelhurst house
photographs of
in Seattle
Sylvia, loss of
travels of
Bard, Dede (Dorothea Darsie) (later Goldsmith) (sister): 15th Ave. house in name of
in 1930 census
about
as aunt
