Patricia Highsmith 1921to –1995
Acclaimed American crime novelist, whose frequently-adapted works include Strangers on A Train, The Price of Salt, and The Talented Mr. Ripley. She moved to New York City at the age of six, and grew up a voracious reader in a troubled household, where she suffered an antagonistic relationship with her mother. One of her early jobs was writing for comic books, while trying to publish her own short stories. In 1948, she was accepted to the author’s retreat Yaddo on the recommendation of Truman Capote, and there she drafted her first novel, Strangers on a Train. The story of a chance meeting leading to murder was published in 1950, and adapted by Alfred Hitchcock a year later, launching her into the spotlight. Protecting her new career was one reason that her second novel, The Price of Salt, was published under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. It was the only explicitly lesbian novel she would ever write, and was groundbreaking for having a happy ending. The story was inspired by her relationship with socialite Virginia Kent Catherwood, and an experience she had while working at Bloomingdale’s. At the time, she was attempting to find happiness in a straight relationship, and had taken the extra job to afford psychoanalysis. But even though Highsmith often claimed to prefer the company of men over women, she was ultimately only interested in sex with women, and had a number of short, passionate affairs that never seemed to last. One of the most significant was with fellow author Marijane Meaker, with whom she lived for a time, and tried to reconnect with later in life. In 1955, Highsmith wrote The Talented Mr. Ripley about a charismatic serial killer, which would go on to spawn three sequels and many film adaptations. Her work was always more popular abroad than in the U.S., and in 1963 she moved permanently to Europe, living in England, Italy, France, and Switzerland. Highsmith had long battled with depression, alcoholism, and anorexia. Her drinking and antisocial tendencies grew with age, and she became known for her meanness, ability to ruin dinner parties, and increasingly racist and antisemitic views. She preferred animals to people, including her pet cats and around 300 snails. Despite a love of privacy, Highsmith was open about her homosexuality, and the fact that she was Claire Morgan had been widely known for decades. In 1990, she finally agreed to publish The Price of Salt under her own name, with the updated title of Carol, also the name of the 2015 film adaptation. She never stopped writing throughout her life, and upon her death left her entire estate to the writer’s retreat where she got her start.