Grace Zaring Stone
Encyclopedia
Grace Zaring Stone was an American
novelist and short story writer. She is perhaps best known for having three of her novels made into films: The Bitter Tea of General Yen
, Winter Meeting
, and Escape
. She also used the pseudonym of Ethel Vance.
. Her mother died in her childhood. She started writing in St. Thomas
in the Virgin Islands
, where she lived with her husband, Ellis Spencer Stone, later a Commodore in the U.S. Navy (where he commanded all of the aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 (none were lost). Later, she moved to Stonington, Connecticut
. They had one child, Eleanor (later Baroness Zgismond Perényi).
Stone used the pseudonym of Ethel Vance to write her 1939 novel Escape, to avoid jeopardising her daughter, who was living in occupied Europe during the Second World War. Editions of her books after WWII credited her as "Grace Zaring Stone (Ethel Vance)", as Escape was her best known book at the time of the war.
She died in Mystic, Connecticut
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist and short story writer. She is perhaps best known for having three of her novels made into films: The Bitter Tea of General Yen
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
The Bitter Tea of General Yen is a pre-Code 1933 film, directed by Frank Capra based on the novel by Grace Zaring Stone and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther....
, Winter Meeting
Winter Meeting
Winter Meeting is a 1948 American drama film directed by Bretaigne Windust. The screenplay by Catherine Turney is based on the novel of the same title by Grace Zaring Stone, writing under the pseudonym Ethel Vance.-Synopsis:...
, and Escape
Escape (1940 film)
Escape is a 1940 drama film about an American in pre-World War II Nazi Germany who discovers his mother is in a concentration camp and tries desperately to free her. It starred Norma Shearer, Robert Taylor, Conrad Veidt and Alla Nazimova...
. She also used the pseudonym of Ethel Vance.
Biography
Stone was the great-great-granddaughter of Robert OwenRobert Owen
Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
. Her mother died in her childhood. She started writing in St. Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
, where she lived with her husband, Ellis Spencer Stone, later a Commodore in the U.S. Navy (where he commanded all of the aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 (none were lost). Later, she moved to Stonington, Connecticut
Stonington, Connecticut
The Town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut, in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, Wequetequock, the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic...
. They had one child, Eleanor (later Baroness Zgismond Perényi).
Stone used the pseudonym of Ethel Vance to write her 1939 novel Escape, to avoid jeopardising her daughter, who was living in occupied Europe during the Second World War. Editions of her books after WWII credited her as "Grace Zaring Stone (Ethel Vance)", as Escape was her best known book at the time of the war.
She died in Mystic, Connecticut
Mystic, Connecticut
Mystic is a village and census-designated place in New London County, Connecticut, in the United States. The population was 4,001 at the 2000 census. A historic locality, Mystic has no independent government because it is not a legally recognized municipality in the state of Connecticut...
.