author
Lottie Blair Parker
A stage actress turned playwright, she wrote crowd-pleasing melodramas that were hugely popular in American theaters around the turn of the 20th century. She is best remembered for Way Down East, a hit play that later inspired well-known film versions.
1 Audiobook
'Way Down East A Romance of New England Life
by Joseph Rhode Grismer, Lottie Blair Parker
About the author
Charlotte Blair Parker, who wrote under the name Lottie Blair Parker, was an American playwright and actress born in Oswego, New York, in 1858. She began her theater career as a performer and appeared with notable actors of her day before moving into playwriting.
Writing as Lottie Blair Parker, she produced around a dozen plays, with her greatest success coming from Way Down East. That play became a major stage hit and helped secure her place in American popular theater. Other works associated with her include Under Southern Skies and The Redemption of David Corson.
She died on January 5, 1937. Today, she is remembered as a writer who helped shape the era of touring melodrama, bringing emotional, high-stakes storytelling to large audiences across the United States.