Akins, Zoë (1886-1958). American poet, playwright, and screenwriter. Akins’ friendship with Cather started in 1909, when she submitted verse to McClure’s magazine, which Cather rejected, advising her to stay with playwriting. Akins subsequently moved from her hometown of St. Louis, MO, to New York City and achieved success as a playwright. She moved to California in the 1930s, adding screenwriting to her accomplishments. Her play The Old Maid (1935), an adaptation of an Edith Wharton novel, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama. In 1932, Akins married Captain Hugh Rumbold, a British theatrical designer and director; he died eight months later. Cather and Akins carried on a lifelong correspondence, with Cather writing affectionate letters that included both commentary on her own works and criticism of Akins’.

Knopf, Blanche Wolf (1894-1966). Vice President of New York publisher Alfred Knopf, Inc. Blanche Wolf founded Alfred Knopf, Inc., in 1915 with her future husband Alfred Knopf. They married in 1916 and their son Alfred “Pat” Knopf was born in 1918. Active in the business throughout her life, Blanche Knopf recruited a number of prominent European and Latin American writers to the Knopf list (in translation) by traveling to meet them. In recognition of her work with writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, she was inducted into the French Legion of Honor in 1949. She became president of Alfred Knopf, Inc., in 1957 when her husband became chairman. Through her work in the publishing house she also promoted writers of the Harlem Renaissance such as Langston Hughes. Cather’s letters to Knopf focus primarily on business but the two also became friends.

Teasdale, Verree (1903-1987). American actress. Born in Spokane, WA, Teasdale attended high school in Brooklyn, NY, and trained as an actress at the New York School of Expression. She made her Broadway debut in 1924, and continued her stage career until 1932, when she moved to Hollywood, CA, appearing in many films, generally as a supporting actress, until 1941. She married actor Adolphe Menjou in 1935; in the late 1940s and early 1950s the couple hosted a syndicated radio show. Cather saw Teasdale play Jean, one of the three co-stars in Zoë Akins play The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930)

Cather, Mary Virginia Boak (1850-1931) (“Virginia” or “Jenny”). Cather’s mother. Born in the Virginia to William Lee Boak and Rachel Seibert Boak, Virginia was educated in Baltimore, MD, and was a schoolteacher until her marriage to Charles Fectigue Cather in 1872. Her husband’s family were primarily Union supporters during the Civil War while her family supported the Confederacy (three brothers served in the Confederate Army although their mother opposed slavery). After her marriage she tried to help unite the divided family. Four of her children, Willa, Roscoe, Charles Douglas, and Jessica Virginia, were born in Virginia, while three, James Donald, Elsie Margaret, and John Esten, were born in Nebraska after the family moved there in 1883. Despite occasional differences, Cather remained in affectionate contact with her mother, who remained in Red Cloud, NE, where the family settled in 1884. After her husband’s death in 1928 Virginia Cather suffered a stroke while visiting her children and their families in California. She spent nearly three years in a sanitarium in Pasadena, CA, unable to speak. Willa Cather visited her there several times but was unable to travel quickly enough from Grand Manan to Red Cloud for her funeral and interment after she died in Pasadena in 1931. Virginia Cather was the prototype for Victoria Templeton in “Old Mrs. Harris” (1932), which Willa Cather completed shortly before her mother’s death.

Howland, Jobyna (1880-1936). American stage and film actress. Born in Indianapolis, IN, Jobyna Howland (named for her father, Joby Howland), grew up in Denver, CO. She first became known as an artists’ model, most notably as one of Charles Dana Gibson’s tall stately “Gibson girls.” She made her stage debut in 1898, becoming a member of producer Daniel Frohman’s company. Her marriage in 1903 to Arthur Stringer impeded her career briefly, as he forced her to retire for a few years; they divorced in 1912. Howland moved to Hollywood, CA, and had minor roles in silent films; her deep, distinctive voice brought more success after sound films became practicable. Cather knew Howland through Zoë Akins, whose play The Texas Nightingale (1922) starred Howland; Howland also had a part in O Evening Star (1935). Akins and Howland lived together in Hollywood in the 1930s.