Growing up during the Great Depression in Philadelphia, she was part of a family that had a deep appreciation for the theater, with her father, a shirt salesman, consistently taking the family to plays every week. As a child, she developed a passion for playwriting, a dream she would pursue for the rest of her life.
Despite being able to afford only a year of college, she continued to learn and educate herself through her love of reading. This passion for reading led her to leave Philadelphia and start a new life in New York City.
Throughout the 1940s, she wrote over 20 plays, but unfortunately, none of them were ever produced. To make ends meet, she supported herself by writing television scripts and children's books. Her love of reading also led her to accumulate a vast collection of books, with one entire wall of her studio apartment dedicated to her favorite titles from the renowned London antiquarian bookshop, Marks & Co.
Her connection with Marks & Co. and its chief buyer, Frank Doel, would ultimately bring her fame. For 20 years, from 1949 to 1969, she carried on a remarkable correspondence with the shop, exchanging letters with Frank. This correspondence was published in 1970 and would later serve as the basis for a British play, a Broadway production, and the 1987 film 84 Charing Cross Road, starring Anne Bancroft as Helene and Anthony Hopkins as Frank Doel.
For two decades, she struggled to make a living as a writer, often relying on her overflowing ashtray and nearby gin bottle for comfort. Despite repeated invitations from Marks & Co. and Frank to visit them in London, she was unable to make the trip until after the success of her book. By then, it was too late - the bookshop had been boarded up, and Frank had passed away from peritonitis.
Today, a brass plaque stands on the site of the former bookshop, serving as a memorial to the remarkable correspondence between two remarkable individuals.
