Photo of the Day: Carson McCullers House, Nyack NY

Eighty-five years ago this month, a debut novel of unusual sensitivity, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, was published. The author, the Georgia-born Carson McCullers, achieved wide acclaim for this study of a deaf mute and those who encounter him.

In 1945, McCullers moved into the house in this photo, which I took last month on my way to the Nyack Public Library in Rockland County, NY. 

Here, for the next 22 years until her death in 1967, under increasingly difficult physical and emotional conditions, the author turned out additional novels, short stories, plays, poetry, and autobiographical works filled with compassion for the misfits and dreamers of the world—those similar to herself.

Here also, Marilyn Monroe, playwright husband Arthur Miller, and novelist Isak Dinesen came to lunch in February 1959 (an encounter I discussed in this blog post from 17 years ago).

From a sign outside, it appears that her former home is being renovated by Aurell Garcia Architects, so I did not step inside. It will be interesting to see how it will be used and visited when the process is completed.