LASSWELL, Mary

Born 8 February 1905, Glasgow, Scotland; died 19 July 1994

Daughter of William R. and Mary Caskey Lubbock; married Clyde Lasswell, 1938; Dudley W. Smith, 1964

Mary Lasswell, born to a prominent Texan family, spent her childhood in Brownsville, Texas, where she learned to speak Spanish before she learned English. She taught for a few years after receiving her B.S. degree in 1930 from the University of Texas. In 1938 she married, and her husband's career in the U.S. Navy took them away from Texas for a time. Upon returning to the state in the late 1950s, Lasswell, who by this time had achieved considerable success as a humorous writer, became active in many professional and civic organizations. These affiliations included the Texas Civil War Centennial Commission, Authors League, Dramatists Guild, Texas Institute of Letters, Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and Theta Sigma Phi (Women in Communications). She remarried in 1964, and after many years of residence in Texas, moved to Los Alamos, California.

Lasswell's first novel, Suds in Your Eye (1942), portrays three elderly ladies living in a junkyard in Southern California. The New York Times called it "one of the funniest, jolliest books of the season" when it appeared. Mrs. Feeley, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Miss Tinkham are also central characters in High Time (1944), One on the House (1949), Wait for the Wagon (1951), and Tooner Schooner (1953). These warm-hearted, down-to-earth women refuse to let old age, physical infirmity, or lack of funds keep them from enjoying life. They look at the rules of society as something they can leave or take as they wish, and they have grown old and wise enough not to be concerned with the superficialities of life. The rowdy women make their way from the junkyard to running a bar to operating an outlandish motel, and they exert prodigious efforts to achieve their goals. Although these characters were considered vulgar by some reviewers, many readers have found them enjoyable; Suds in Your Eye has sold over 300,000 copies.

Two books of recipes, Mrs. Rasmussen's Book of One-Arm Cookery (1946) and Mrs. Rasmussen's Book of One-Arm Cookery with Second Helpings (1970), were a by-product of these comic novels, when readers wrote to request instructions for the dishes prepared by the three old women.

A serious novel, Bread for the Living (1948), set in Brownsville in the early 20th century, was not very favorably received. Several other publications were more successful. I'll Take Texas (1959), a descriptive, anecdotal guide to the state, was described as "affectionate and enthusiastic" and "told with charm." In 1962 Lasswell compiled and edited the 1861-65 memoirs of Valerius C. Giles, who had been a nineteen-year-old recruit with Hood's Brigade. The resulting volume, Rags and Hope, received favorable notice.

Lasswell wrote a comic novel, Tio Pepe (1963), which she developed into a musical comedy in 1968. It is named for its protagonist, the elderly Mexican owner of a bar, Cada Noche un Amor (A Love Every Night), whose wife is a religious fanatic. Professor Elijah Potts, bachelor, folklorist, and professional Kinsey researcher, provides an unbiased view of this amusing household. Lasswell's intimate knowledge of Mexico and its people is evidenced in both the novel and the play. It is a somewhat bawdy story, but, as Dr. William Madsen, professor of anthropology at the University of Texas, noted, "The book is full of respect for life. In it there is compassion and tenderness for all human things."

Lasswell's works include a variety of literary types, all of which are competently written. She is at her best, however, in her amusing tales of the rowdy trio of old ladies, where she manages to tell funny stories without losing the sense of human dignity underneath the foolishness.

Other Works:

Lonely Star (1951). Let's Go for Broke (1962). John Henry Kirby, Prince of the Pines (1966).

Bibliography:

Reference works:

American Novelists of Today (1951). CA (1965). TCAS.

Other references:

Boston Globe (11 Oct. 1944). LJ (15 Oct. 1951). NY (19 Nov. 1949). NYT (13 Dec. 1942). NYTBR (18 Dec. 1949). Saturday Review (17 Mar. 1951, 2 Sept. 1961). Springfield Republican (8 Oct. 1961).

—DOROTHY H. BROWN