Name Richard Bissell | Role Author | |
 | ||
Died May 4, 1977, Dubuque, Iowa, United States Books 7½ Cents, A stretch on the river, High water Education Harvard University, Phillips Exeter Academy Plays The Pajama Game, Say, Darling Awards Tony Award for Best Musical Similar People Jerry Ross, George Abbott, Richard Adler, Carol Haney, Abe Burrows | ||
Richard Pike Bissell (June 27, 1913 in Dubuque, Iowa – May 4, 1977) was an American author of short stories and novels. His third book, and second novel, 7½ Cents, was adapted into the Broadway musical The Pajama Game. This won him (along with co-author George Abbott) the 1955 Tony Award for Best Musical. He wrote a book about the experience called Say, Darling, which chronicled the ins and outs of a broadway musical production and featured characters based on those (such as Harold Prince) he worked with; this book was also turned into a musical, also called Say, Darling, in 1958.
Contents
Biography
Bissell was born and died in Dubuque, Iowa. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and graduated from Harvard University.
He wrote a memoir of his experiences at Harvard, You Can Always Tell a Harvard Man (McGraw Hill, 1965). He worked on a freighter on the American Export Business Lines and riverboats, served as vice president at a Dubuque clothing manufacturer which had been bought by his great-grandfather (who worked his way from the bottom to the top of the company in a true Horatio Alger kind of story). He also lived for several years and raised his children in Rowayton, Connecticut. A member of The Lambs (1956).
Bissell wrote works about his experiences on the river that had some critics comparing him to Mark Twain, and 7½ Cents was based on his experiences in the garment industry. Bissell wrote 7½ Cents while he was the vice-president of his family's pajama factory located in Dubuque, Iowa.
Works
Influence
In 2008 Elmore Leonard cited Richard Bissell as a major influence in formation of his style because he felt Bissell could be naturally funny:
Once I realized he (Ernest Hemingway) doesn't have much of a sense of humor, at least he doesn't show it in his books then I had to find someone else. And there was a writer by the name of Richard Bissell and Bissell wrote 7½ Cents which became The Pajama Game and wrote books set on the Mississippi river where he was a pilot, a towboat pilot I don't know for how long. Then he wrote about five books and he had such a natural style. There was humor on his towboat guys' talk, but it was never forced. He wasn't trying to be funny. That was the main point. I thought that's the way to do it. That's the way.