Edward Eager

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Edward McMaken Eager (June 20, 1911 – October 23, 1964) was an American lyricist, playwright, and author of books for children. Eager's works for children were distinctive in their use of the theme of magic making an appearance in the lives of ordinary children.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Eager was born in and grew up in Toledo, Ohio and attended Harvard University class of 1935[1]. He then moved to New York City where he lived for 14 years before moving to Connecticut[2]. He married Jane Eberly in 1938[3] and he had a son named Fritz [4]. He was a childhood fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and started writing children's books when he could not find stories he wanted to read to his own young son. In his books, Eager often acknowledges his debt to E. Nesbit, whom he thought of as the best children's author of all time.[1] A well-known lyricist and playwright, Eager died in October 23, 1964 in Stamford Connecticut[5] at the age of fifty-three.

Harvard University awards an annual prize [6] in Eager's name.

EDWARD EAGER MEMORIAL FUND Through a bequest of Jane Eager, a prize is awarded "in memory of my late husband, Edward Eager, Class of 1935." The income of the fund is used "annually for an award for the best creative writing - preferably in the juvenile field - by an undergraduate in the Harvard English Department ...." For further information, please contact the Department Administrator, Department of English and American Literature and Language.

[edit] Theatrical works

List may be incomplete

Sing Out, Sweet Land! (1944), "a salute to American folk and popular music". With Elie Siegmeister, he wrote three new numbers for the show.

Dream With Music (1944), a "musical fantasy" in which a soap opera writer dreams that she is Scheherazade in old Baghdad, where her real life acquaintances turn up as Aladdin, the Sultan, etc. Wrote lyrics to music from Schubert, Beethoven, Saint-Saens, Weber, Chopin, Wagner, Haydn and Foster as culled by Clay Warnick. Balanchine choreographed.[7]

Beachcomber Club Revue of 1946, Books & Lyrics by Edward Eager; Music by J Fred Coots (1946)[8]

The Liar, New Musical Comedy, Lyrics by Edward Eager; Music by John Mundy and Edward Eager (1950)[9]

The Gambler Book written with Alfred Drake (1952)[10]

NBC's The Adventures of Marco Polo, April 14, 1956 Music: Clay Warnick & Mel Pahl Lyrics: Edward Eager Book: William Friedberg & Neil Simon Cast: Alfred Drake, Doretta Morrow Those who originally led Broadway's Kismet starred in Polo, with the score contrived around themes by Rimsky-Korsakov. The story was lightly suggested by the actual exploits of the guy who opened China to the West. This production did well, and Columbia released an LP of the score.

CBS Radio Workshop, May 4, 1956 The Toledo War (An Operatic Parlor Piece) Libretto by Edward Eager, Music by David Brookman (From credits on mp3 recording of episode.)

NBC's Holiday, June 9, 1956, Music: loosely adapted from Johann Strauss Lyrics: Edward Eager Cast: Doretta Morrow, Keith Andes, Kitty Carlisle, Bambi Lynn, Tammy Grimes, George S. Irving, Jaques D'Amboise Loosely organized around Elmer Rice's play The Grand Tour, the story told of a New England schoolteacher who fell for embezzling banker during a trip to Europe. In the end of the musical she uses family monies to cover his misdoings, an odd resolution even by the looser standards of modern ethics.

Miranda and the Dark Young Man Libretto by Edward Eager (1957)[11]

NBC Opera Theater, mentioned in various places as ongoing, Lyricist, 1950–1963

Rugantino lyric translation by Edward Eager (1964)[12]

[edit] Literature

Books:

  • Red Head (1951)
  • Mouse Manor (1952)
  • Playing Possum (1955)
  • Half Magic (1954)
  • Knight's Castle (1956)
  • Magic By the Lake (1957)
  • The Time Garden (1958)
  • Magic Or Not? (1959)
  • The Well-Wishers (1960)
  • Seven-Day Magic (1962)

Collection of all seven Magic stories:

  • Edward Eager's Tales of Magic (omnibus) (2000)

[edit] Book descriptions

Half Magic was the #1 seller in America

Mouse Manor

Mouse Manor, illustrated by Beryl Bailey-Jones, is told from the viewpoint of Miss Myrtilla the mouse, sole occupant of the manor which she has inherited from her mother. She keeps house faithfully, dusting the family portraits and baking a bag pudding for her solitary Christmas dinner.

[13]

Playing Possum pictures by Paul Galdone.

Half Magic

A dull summer is improved when Katharine, Mark, Jane and Martha find a magic talisman, which resembles a U.S. nickel. But this particular magical money is only half magic—it cuts a wish in half and grants half of it. This causes wonderful/magical difficulty. They meet Sir Launcelot, end up with a half-talking cat, get almost kidnapped in the Sahara desert, and have their sister turned into a ghost! This book is full of adventure and suspense.

Magic by the Lake

Here are the further adventures of Martha, Jane, Mark, and Katharine from Half-Magic. After racing up a hill Martha sees a magical lake and new adventures on their summer vacation where they go to a lake on a very weird road. They are stranded on a desert island, visit Ali-Baba's cave, and end up rescued by some children we see in the next book.

Half Magic and Magic by the Lake take place in the 1920s, earlier than Eager's other novels.

Knight's Castle

Martha's children, Roger and Ann, and their Aunt Katharine's children, Eliza and Jack, find that the combination of a toy castle, Scott's Ivanhoe, and a little magic can build another wonderful series of adventures. A running theme in Eager's novels is his many references to the novels of E. Nesbit; Knight's Castle pays explicit tribute to Nesbit's The Magic City, and also makes an explicit reference to the cartoons of Charles Addams. (Half Magic includes a reference to a short story by Saki.) Knight's Castle won Ohioana Book Award for Juvenile Literature in 1957.[14]

The Time Garden

Eliza, Jack, Roger, and Ann find an herb garden where thyme grows, which lets them travel through time (until the thyme is ripe). On one adventure they rescue their mothers, aunt Jane, and uncle Mark, who are on a magical adventure as children. This gives an alternate view of one of the adventures in Magic by the Lake.

Magic or Not?

Laura, James, and their wonderful new neighbors, Kip and Lydia, wish up some summer adventures when the well in their new yard is more than they imagined.

Although all of Eager's other novels for children depict what are clearly adventures in supernatural magic, Magic or Not and its sequel The Well-Wishers are different in tone from his other books, because all of the "magical" events in these two novels are described ambiguously, with clues to permit possible non-supernatural explanations.

The Well-Wishers

The children return to the magic well from Magic or Not for another unpredictable series of adventures which might (or might not) be genuine magic.

Seven-Day Magic

Barnaby, John, Susan, Abbie and Fredericka check out a tattered book from the library for seven days. Oddly, it carefully and correctly records every word they say. Soon they find that it not only records events, but creates new magical adventures.

Seven-Day Magic is Eager's only stand-alone novel: the only one featuring children who do not appear in at least one other of his books. It does, however, speak of his book Half Magic by name, and has a chapter where the children visit the very end of Half Magic and what might have happened afterwards. It was his last book.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Oxford authors page: Edward Eager. Accessed Jan. 30, 2009.
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