Richard Pike Bissell

Richard Pike Bissell (June 27, 1913 – May 4, 1977) was an American author of short stories and novels. His third book, and second novel, 7½ Cents, was adapted into the Broadway musical The Pajama Game. This won him (along with co-author George Abbott) the 1955 Tony Award for Best Musical. He wrote a book about the experience called Say, Darling, which chronicled the ins and outs of a Broadway musical production and featured characters based on those (such as Harold Prince) he worked with; this book was also turned into a musical, also called Say, Darling, in 1958.

Early life Bissell was born, in Dubuque, Iowa, the second son of Frederick Ezekiel Bissell, a factory owner, and Edith Mary Pike Bissell, in Dubuque, Iowa.

Career After college, Bissell worked tor Polaroid, later signing on as a seaman on an American Export Lines freighter. In 1938, he married Marian Van Patten Grilk, returning to Dubuque, and living on a Mississippi River houseboat, then worked for the family clothing manufacturer business, H. B. Glover Company. After being rejected by the Navy for enlistment during World War II because of poor eyesight, After the war, he returned to Dubuque and resumed his work for the garment factory founded by his great-grandfather in 1845.

The Bissell family moved to the East coast so he could turn his book, 7½ Cents, into a Broadway musical, which later became a motion picture. This inspired his novel Say, Darling, which also became a Broadway musical.

Bissell wrote works about his experiences on the Mississippi River, including, novels: A Stretch on the River, High Water, Goodbye Ava, The Monongahela, and the non-fiction: My Life on the Mississippi or Why I am Not Mark Twain, that had some critics comparing him to Mark Twain. Bissell's 7½ Cents was based on his experiences in the garment industry, written while he was the vice-president of his family's Dubuque pajama factory.

He wrote a memoir of his experiences at Harvard, You Can Always Tell a Harvard Man (McGraw Hill, 1965). He worked on a freighter on the American Export Business Lines and riverboats, served as vice president at a Dubuque clothing manufacturer which had been bought by his great-grandfather (who worked his way from the bottom to the top of the company).

Personal life On February 15, 1938, He lived for several years in Rowayton, Connecticut. Bissell was a member of The Lambs from 1956.

Death In 1975, Bissell moved back to Dubuque, Iowa to live in the house his grandfather built. He died in a Dubuque hospital on May 4, 1977, of a brain tumor.

Works A Stretch on the River (1950) The Monongahela, Rivers of America Series, (1952) 7½ Cents (1953) High Water: A Novel of Adventure on a Mississippi River Towboat (1954) Say, Darling (1959) Good Bye, Ava (1960) You Can Always Tell a Harvard Man (1962) Still Circling Moose Jaw (1965) How Many Miles to Galena; or, Baked, Hashed Brown, or French Fried? (1968) Julia Harrington, Winnebago, Iowa, 1913 (1969) My Life on the Mississippi, or Why I Am Not Mark Twain (1973) New Light on 1776 and All That (1975)

Influence In 2008, Elmore Leonard cited Richard Bissell as a major influence in formation of his style because he felt Bissell could be naturally funny:

Awards Tony Award for Best Musical (Book), 1955: The Pajama Game, George Abbott & Richard Pike Bissell