Mona Williams (born Vermona March Goodwyn; March 26, 1905 – December 5, 1991) was an American novelist and poet, best known as the author of the novelette from which the 1954 feature film, Woman's World, was adapted. She also contributed articles, fiction and poetry to magazines including The Writer, McCall's, Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan.
Early life Mona Williams was born in Rutland, Vermont, the first of five children born to Wirt Goodwyn and Mabel Alice Trask."Trask-Goodwyn". Rutland Daily Herald."Obituaries: Wirt Goodwyn". The Richmond News Leader. p. 15."Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQR-17QK : 3 March 2021), Wirt Goodwyn and Mabel Alice Trask, 12 Jul 1906; citing Marriage, Vermont, United States, various town clerks and records divisions, Vermont; FHL microfilm 005486398. She was raised in Massachusetts, initially Springfield and later Northampton, where she attended private school."United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2J1-JL8 : accessed 26 December 2022), Vermona Goodwyn in household of Goodwyn Goodwyn, Springfield Ward 8, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 657, sheet 10B, family 183, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 592; FHL microfilm 1,374,605."United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXBF-JZK : 1 February 2021), Vermonia Goodwyn in entry for Wirt Goodwyn, 1920.Locher, Francis C.; ed. (1979). Contemporary Authors, Volumes 81–84. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company. .
Career Williams's first novel Here Are My Children was generally well received.Rockey, Howard (October 8, 1932). "Mona Williams' Debut and Two Other Novels". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 12.I.O. (October 15, 1932). "Book Reviews: Four in Youth". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 8."First Novel That Is Rich With Life and Character". The Boston Globe. October 15, 1932. p. 3. Novelist Julian Street judged it "quite a surprising performance for so young a writer,"I.M.P. (October 2, 1932). "Turns With the Bookworm". Oakland Tribune. p. 18. while poet Isidor Schneider, reviewing the book for the New York Herald Tribune, observed:
For much of her career, William's star was eclipsed by that of her celebrated namesake, Mrs. Harrison Williams (the former Mona Bush, née Strader), most notably in 1937 when her work was erroneously attributed by no less prestigious a publication than Time Magazine:Jay Jay (May 7, 1937). "Four Bits: Another Mona". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. 1.
In 1952, 20th Century Fox purchased Williams' story, May the Best Wife Win,Parsons, Louella (January 25, 1952). "20th Century Fox Buys 'May the Best Wife Win'". The Scranton Tribune. p. 19. originally published in the July 1950 issue of McCall's. "May The Best Wife Win". WorldCat.
Whatever boost to Williams' public profile may have resulted from her connection to the 1954 feature film Woman's World appears to have been largely offset by the studio's decision to relocate the film's action to New York City. As she herself noted:
In the nineteen sixties, two more projected screen adaptations of Williams novels were announced, neither of which came to fruition. In 1963, MGM purchased the rights to Williams' not-yet completed novel, The Company Girls, with Joe Pasternak to produce and screenwriter George Wells to do the adaptation."New Comedy for Studio". The Montreal Gazette. February 25, 1963. p. 10"Wells Signed". The Montreal Gazette. June 29, 1963. p. 13"Writers Will Hear Novelist at Dinner Saturday". The Sacramento Bee. February 9, 1964. p. 26. Whether or not that adaptation was completed, the film was never made. In the summer of 1965, it was reported that former film writer-producer Felix Jackson had acquired the rights to Williams's novel Faces at a Window, with Jackson himself slotted to do the adaptation.Martin, Betty (August 13, 1965). "Movie Call Sheet". The Los Angeles Times. p. D7. No more was heard of the project, nor was any novel of that name published, though perhaps this was the novel eventually published in 1968 as Voices in the Dark.
Personal life and death In December 1929, roughly six years after having had her first completed novel rejected by him,Forlifer, Patricia (October 7, 1955). "Homemaking Duties Suggest Ideas for Stories, Says Fiction Writer". Richmond Times. p. 28 Mona Goodwyn married editor, publisher and author Henry Meade Williams (the son of novelist and playwright Jesse Lynch Williams),"Magazine Writer Weds Son of Jesse Williams". Transcript-Telegram. December 30, 1929. p. 13. with whom she had three children.
Williams died of a stroke on December 5, 1991, at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, having been predeceased by her husband in 1984. Her cremated remains were scattered in the waters off Trout Island, near Harrington, Maine, as had been her husband's.
List of works
Here Are My Children (1932) Bright Is the Morning (1934) May the Best Wife Win (1950). "The Man With Three Faces" (1951)Williams, Mona (April 1951). Ladies Home Journal. pp. 44-45, 221, 223–225. Dream Pictures (1952)"Works by Mona Goodwyn Williams". WorldCat. Invitation to Breakfast: A Comedy in One Act (1955) Yesterday's Innocents (1956). The Marriage (1958; The Passion of Amy Styron, 1965) The Hot Breath of Heaven (1961), poems The Company Girls (1965). Celia (1968) Voices in the Dark (1968) The Messenger (1977)Davis, Don (June 25, 1977). "Problems Must Remain Unsolved". The Charlotte News. p. 24. Retrieved December 13, 2022. This House Is Burning (1978)"Book Brings Friends". Carmel Pine Cone. June 22, 1978. p. 23.
References
Further reading Goodwyn, Mona (March 2, 1928). "Cal It a Day: 'Greek and Greek'". Harrisburg Telegraph. p. 8 Goodwyn, Mona (March 28, 1928). "From a Scrap Book: 'Cynic'". Kingsport Times. p. 8 Goodwyn, Mona (May 8, 1928). "Call It a Day: 'Communion'" Harrisburg Telegraph. Goodwyn, Mona (August 5, 1928). "My Mind Was a Cold House". The Birmingham News. Goodwyn, Mona (March 6, 1928). "Low Tide". New York Herald Tribune. Reprinted in The American Scrap Book: The Year's Golden Harvest of Thought and Achievement (1928) "Author Sees Old Problem in New Light". The Oklahoma News. December 2, 1932. p. 10 Williams, Mona Godwyn (May 13, 1934). "The Liar". The Fresno Bee. “Cast Announced for Lions Play”. ‘’The Carmel Pine Cone-Combal’’. May 14, 1948. p. 3 "Previewing Mona's Movie". The Carmel Pine Cone. November 5, 1954. p. 11e Hopper, Hedda (May 23, 1954). "Hollywood: Author Got Small Sum for Expensive Hollywood Film". The Tampa Tribune. Lindeman, Edith (December 1, 1954). "Writer Finds One Sale to Movies Doesn't Make a Millionaire of Her". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. 17 "All-Carmel Panel of Writers". The Carmel Pine Cone. p. 1 "Mona Williams Is First in San Marino after Peanut War". The Carmel Pine Cone. October 31, 1957. p. 1 Williams, Mona (May 1, 1958). “Beyond Human Knowledge ‘Pulls the Mind Outward’”. ‘’The Carmel Pine Cone-Cymbal’’. p. 5 Wegars, Don (February 25, 1962). "Burroughs' Cut-Up Works and Stabs at Swinging Art". The San Francisco Examiner Highlight. p. 5 Jervey, Phyllis (July 21, 1966). "Party Plans: Henry and Mona Read and Write". The Carmel Pine Cone-Cymbal. p. 8 “Story in February Issue of Cosmo”. ‘’The Carmel Pine Cone-Cymbal’’. February 1, 1968. p. 2 Lloyd, Frank (April 14, 1977). "Once Upon a Time". The Carmel Pine Cone. pp. 2, 4 Drizari, Nelo (December 8, 1977). "The Literati of Carmel". The Carmel Pine Cone. pp. 8–9 Norberg, Gunnar (December 22, 1983). "The Conscience of Carmel: Recording Our History". The Carmel Pine Cone. p. A-21
External links Works by Mona Goodwyn Williams at WorldCat