Louise Crane
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Louise Crane (1913-1997), a prominent philanthropist and poet. Crane was a friend and supporter to some of New York’s leading literary figures, including Tennessee Williams and Marianne Moore.
Crane's father was Winthrop Murray Crane, an American millionaire and former governor of Massachusetts. Her mother was MoMA founder Josephine Porter Boardman. Louise smoothly moved into the role of patron of the arts. She was a prominent supporter of jazz and orchestral music, initiating a series of "coffee concerts" at MoMA and commissioning a vocal and orchestral work by Lukas Foss. She even worked representing musicians, including Mary Lou Williams.
Crane met Elizabeth Bishop while classmates together at Vassar in 1930. The pair traveled extensively in Europe and bought a house together in 1937 in Key West, Florida. While Bishop lived in Key West, Crane occasionally returned to New York. Crane developed a passionate interest in Billie Holiday and broke up with Bishop in 1941.
Crane kept up an extensive correspondence with Djuna Barnes and was executor of Marianne Moore's estate after her death in 1972.
[edit] References
- Chester Page collection, the bulk of which is correspondence between Crane and Barnes.
- Roman, Camille, Elizabeth Bishop's World War II-Cold War View New York: Palgrave, 2001. ISBN 0312230788
