Frank Shay

Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Frank Shay was part of the energetic bohemian scene that centered on Greenwich Village and Provincetown in the 1910s and 1920s. Reliable archival material from the Harry Ransom Center describes him as born Frank Xavier Shea in 1888 and notes that he changed his surname to Shay as a young man.

Shay was more than an author: he was also a bookseller, editor, publisher, and organizer. Sources connected with the Greenwich Village Bookshop Door project and reference material on his career describe him as the owner of bookshops in New York City and Provincetown, a founder of the Provincetown Players, and the force behind Frank Shay’s Traveling Bookshop. His interests in theater and literary culture shaped much of his work and public life.

As a writer and editor, Shay is remembered for books on plays, folklore, songs, and Americana, including collections of sailor chanteys and anthologies for readers and performers. He died in 1954, leaving behind a body of work closely tied to the adventurous, experimental spirit of early modern American literary life.