Early years and Education

Herman was born in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. He attended a parochial school and High School in Maryland, and then earned a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from Loyola College

Loyola College in Maryland

Loyola University Maryland is a Roman Catholic, Jesuit private university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges...

. From 1947 to 1949, Herman also spent three summers at the Boston College

Boston College

Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...

 School of Expressional Art on a playwrighting scholarship. In 1954, he earned a Master of Fine Arts from Catholic University of America.

Career

Herman has taught playwrighting and has been the artist-in-residence at numerous American universities. For 16 years he lived and worked in Hawaii on the staff of the State Superintendent of Education. He has directed over 200 plays for numerous schools and theatres, has served as the Artistic Director for at least one theatre (the Commedia Repertory Theatre in Hawaii), and has designed sets and lighting for more than 40 productions.

While in Hawaii, Herman also worked for as a theatre columnist and drama critic. He turned to writing novels at age 65, and has published seven novels and one children's book to date.

As a playwright, Herman has won numerous awards since 1953. His best known play is "A Company of Wayward Saints", which has been in print continuously since it was first published in 1963. His plays for radio, TV, and the stage have been produced around the world. He currently has five published plays, and number of his award winning unpublished plays are also available through his website. Herman has received more than 30 awards for his writing.

Personal life

Herman has been married three times, has nine children of his own, and seven grandchildren. He currently resides in Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

.

Awards

• 1953 Hartke Playwrighting Award - "The Pygmalion Effect"
• 1963 McKnight Foundation Humanities Award - "A Company of Wayward Saints"
• 1974 Julie Harris-Beverly Hills Theatre Award - "The Man in the Cordoban Hat"
• 1976 Ayling Foundation Awards for new plays for children - "Nine Dragons"
• 1980 Ayling Foundation Awards for new plays for children - "The Hidden Place"
• 1985 Roberts Theatre Institute Award - "The King Has Gone to Tenebrae"
• 1993 Julie Harris-Beverly Hills Theatre Award - "Pious Nine is Falling Down"

Published Plays

• A Company of Wayward Saints (1963)
• A Smell of Cinnamon
• Devil of the Second Stairs
• Nine Dragons (1977)
• The Hidden Place (1978)
• Little Rome - Iowa (2003) ISBN 0-59527-236-3, ISBN 978-0595272365

Books

• Carnival of Saints (1994) ISBN 0-34538-150-5, ISBN 978-0345381507
• A Comedy of Murders (1994) ISBN 0-78670-064-5, ISBN 978-0786700646
• The Tears of the Madonna (1996) ISBN 0-78670-243-5, ISBN 978-0786702435
• The Florentine Mourners (1999) ISBN 1-58348-627-5, ISBN 978-1583486276
• The Necromancer (2003) ISBN 978-0595282654
• The Toys of War (2001) ISBN 0-59520-951-3, # ISBN 978-0595209514
• The Arno Serpent (2007) ISBN 0-59544-241-2, # ISBN 978-0595442416
• Nine Dragons (2003) ISBN 0-80483-481-4, ISBN 978-0804834810

External links

• George Herman on Playscripts.com
• Official website