Letters to the Editor

Place in History

Thank you for the very insightful article about my father, Jock Yablonski, in the Winter 2001 edition, “Living For Reform.” Kenneth C. Wolensky’s research and writing skills do great justice to his memory. As a son who lost his parents and sister, the article brought back extremely painful memories. On the other hand, it is very satisfying to see my parents’ and sister’s place in history so eloquently and accurately recorded. Again, thank you.

Kenneth J. Yablonski
Washington, Pa.

Piper’s World

I read the article entitled “The World of Jane Piper” by Bill Scott [Fall 2000] with great interest. Jane Piper’s father was a friend of my father-in-law, and Ed Piper delivered my wife. An earlier article on Piper aircraft [“The Little Cub That Roared” by Theodore K. Thomas, Winter 1993] was the story of Jane’s uncle. The Pipers originally came from Williams­port, Lycoming County, and made their fortune in the lumber industry. Your article on lumbering in northern Pennsylvania (“The Pennsylvania Lumber Museum Preserves an Industrial History” by Fred J. Lauver, Summer 2000] is also part of the Piper heritage.

Henry H. Fetterman
Allentown, Pa.

Thank you for the issue of Pennsylvania Heritage featuring Bill Scott’s article devoted to Jane Piper. As my mother, Betty W. Hubbard, was a devoted student of Arthur B. Carles, this issue was especially interesting to me.

Moira P. Hyle
Saint Louis, Mo.

The author of this article, Philadelphia artist Bill Scott, served as guest curator for “Jane Piper and Her Circle: Three Generations of Painters in Philadelphia,” recently on view at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, which featured Woman in Evening Robes (circa 1940) by Betty W. Hubbard (1901-1967). The painting was given to The State Museum by the artist’s daughters, Moira P. Hyle, Leslie P. Symington, and Deirdre W. Wilson, in 2000.

Take a Bow!

The article about Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman [“Broadway Takes a Bow in Bucks County: A Conversation with Kitty Carlisle Hart and Anne Kaufman Schnei­der” by Michael J. O’Malley III, Fall 2000] was a good read. Just as exciting is the fact that the February 2001 issue of Vanity Fair contains “Act Two” (the title a play on Hart’s 1959 autobiography, Act One), an excerpt from a forthcoming biography by Steven Bach. Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in April 2001. Among other things, the author discusses Hart’s friendship with the exasperating critic Alexan­der Woollcott, which inspired him and collaborator George S. Kaufman to write The Man Who Came to Dinner. Bach also discusses Moss Hart’s marriage to Kitty Carlisle, who he claims helped save the floundering production of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady and turn it into a theatrical triumph. I think your readers might find Dazzler to be of interest because Hart’s widow, the gracious and graceful Kitty Carlisle Hart, refused to be interviewed for it. In fact, she asked her wide circle of friends to not provide assistance as well. The interview with Pennsyl­vania Heritage is Mrs. Hart’s most recent­ – and perhaps last – word on the subject. Thanks for being such a well-informed and timely publication. It’s your turn to take a bow, Pennsylvania Her­itage.

Ellen M. Fry
Philadelphia, Pa.

I really enjoyed the interview with Kitty Carlisle Hart and Anne Kaufman Schneider. Such articles really make one stop and think about the great geniuses of the twentieth century and their connections to Pennsylvania. Without this article, I wouldn’t have known about Bucks County’s significance as a home to the great names of drama and literature. Can we have more of this type of article? For too long, the culture and the arts of this country have been sorely neglected.

Anita Blackstone
Pittsburgh, Pa.