Gertrude Friedberg

Gertrude Tonkonogy Friedberg (17 March 1908 – September 17, 1989) was an American playwright and author.[1]

Gertrude Tonkonogy Friedberg
BornGertrude Tonkonogy
(1908-03-17)17 March 1908
New York City, New York
Died17 September 1989(1989-09-17) (aged 81)
Manhattan, New York
OccupationPlaywright and author
LanguageEnglish
NationalityUnited States

Life and career

Gertrude Tonkonogy was born in New York in 1908 as one of 11 children. Her siblings included Eugene Tonkonogy; George T. Delacorte, Jr. was a half-brother.[2]

After graduating from Barnard College with a B.A. in 1929, Tonkonogy made her first professional sale with the play Three Cornered Moon which was produced on Broadway (opening March 16, 1933) and starred Ruth Gordon and Brian Donlevy. It was almost immediately made into a film of the same name starring Claudette Colbert; the film opened in August 1933.[1]

Shortly after her success with the play, Tonkonogy married Charles K. Friedberg, a doctor. She was thereafter credited as Gertrude Friedberg. Her second play, Town House, appeared in 1948. It was based on stories by John Cheever, and directed by George S. Kaufman.

She wrote several short stories through the 1950s, publishing in the magazines New World Writing, Esquire, The Atlantic,[3] Story and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.[4] Friedberg's first—and only—collection was in 1959 in the new writer showcase Short Story 2; this volume featured five of her stories, as well as stories from three other authors including Michael Rumaker.[3] Between 1958 and 1972, Friedberg published three science fiction stories, and one science fiction novel, The Revolving Boy (1966).[1] The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction characterizes the novel as a "minor classic in the field."[5] It would be Friedberg's only novel.

According to the back page of an edition of The Revolving Boy published in 1980, Friedberg lived in New York, where she taught mathematics.[4] Friedberg had two children, Richard and Barbara.[1][2] She died of cancer in her Manhattan home, aged 81.[1]

References
  1. "Gertrude T. Friedberg, Playwright, 81". The New York Times. 20 September 1989. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  2. Martin, Douglas (January 15, 2001). "Eugene Tonkonogy, Investor And Adventurer, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  3. Peden, William (October 18, 1959). "Writer to Watch". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  4. Friedberg, Gertrude (1980). "About the Author". The Revolving Boy. Del Rey Books. ISBN 978-0345287700.
  5. "Friedberg, Gertrude". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. 4 April 2017. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
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