Merriam Modell
Merriam Modell was an American author of short stories, suspense and pulp fiction, who wrote primarily under the pen name Evelyn Piper. Many had a common theme: the domestic conflicts faced by American families.
A graduate of Cornell University, Modell travelled extensively in her younger years, living in Germany from the late 1920s until 1933, after which she returned to the United States. After marriage to Dr. Walter Modell and motherhood, she began to write and publish short stories, many appearing in The New Yorker.
Films were made of The Nanny starring Bette Davis, and Bunny Lake Is Missing starring Carol Lynley and Laurence Olivier.
She died of a pulmonary embolism at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Partial bibliography
Short stories
- "Literature is Saved", The New Yorker, November 26, 1938, p. 51
- "Object Lesson", The New Yorker, November 8, 1941, p. 86
- "Month of August, ’43", The New Yorker, July 31, 1943, p. 55
- "The Garbage Pails", The New Yorker, June 9, 1945, p. 62
- "Ordeal by Earring", The New Yorker, November 2, 1946
Novels
- The Sound of Years - as Merriam Modell
- My Sister, My Bride - as Merriam Modell
- The Innocent - nominated in 1950 for Edgar Award
- The Motive
- The Plot
- The Lady and Her Doctor
- Bunny Lake Is Missing
- Hanno's Doll
- The Naked Murderer
- The Nanny
- The Stand-In