Zona Gale

Zona Gale (August 26, 1874 – December 27, 1938), also known by her married name, Zona Gale Breese, was an American novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1921. The close relationship she had with her parents influenced both her writing and personal life. Her books, based on her hometown, were noted for their charm and intimate realism, capturing the underlying emotions and motivations of her characters. All of her works were published under her maiden name, Zona Gale.

She became a single parent after adopting a girl. Her parents died in 1923 and 1929, after which she became interested in mysticism, leading to a shift in her writing style, much to the dismay of critics who had enjoyed her earlier work. She remained unmarried until her fifties, when she married a childhood friend who was a widower. She supported various political and social causes, including women's rights, pacifism, and education.

Early life and education Gale was born on August 26, 1874, in Portage, Wisconsin to Charles Franklin and Eliza Beers Gale. She began writing and illustrating stories at the age of 7. (Gale received notification and the check for $3 at college.) She was so excited to have her story accepted by the paper that she traveled 40 miles home, stayed a couple of hours to share her joy with her parents, and made a return trip back to the university. before she entered the University of Wisconsin, where she received a Bachelor of Literature

Career After college, Gale wrote for Milwaukee Evening Wisconsin. She got the job by showing up at the city editor's desk each day. After two weeks, the city editor asked her to write a story about a flower show. After a total of six weeks, she was given a job on the paper.

She published Romance Island, her first novel, in 1906, and began the popular "Friendship Village" series of stories which were thought to be based upon Portage,

Preface to a Life, published in 1926 was based on a new-found mysticism that grew after the death of her mother in 1923 and her father in 1929. The main character mistakes his inner wisdom and mysticism for madness. She published essays based upon mysticism. Her activism on behalf of women was her way to help solve "a problem she returned to repeatedly in her novels: women's frustration at their lack of opportunities." (Just below this tribute was an article, "'Big Four' to Meet Again?" that said that the Big Four Leaders of Europe would meet in 1939 to "iron out all differences including the French and Italian conflict in the Mediterranean".) (The meeting was held just before the start of World War II (1939–1945)).

Personal life Zona Gale House, which she built for her parents in Portage, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1902, she met Ridgely Torrence in New York, with whom she developed a "deeply felt spiritual love", but when considering whether to stay in New York or return to Portage, she returned to her family. Construction began on a house for her and her parents in 1906. Located along the shore of the Wisconsin River in Portage, she lived in the house most of her adult life.

Her mother died in 1923. She became a step mother to William's daughter, Juliette Blackman Breese, who married Cecil Bennett in 1930. Her father died in 1929. Gale, a frequent visitor to the Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside, California, became a friend of Frank Augustus Miller, the founder of the hotel.

Death and legacy Gale came to Chicago in mid-December 1938 for treatment of an ailment and contracted pneumonia about December 20. She died of pneumonia in Passavant Hospital in Chicago on December 27. Dr. Glenn Frank, former president of the University of Wisconsin, presided over her funeral. Some money was set aside for the Zona Gale scholarships. By the time of Breese's death, Leslyn married Robert Keie of Saginaw, Michigan.