background: A.R. Gurney.
far left: Jack Gilpin and Julie Hagerty
in A Cheever Evening at
Playwrights Horizons, 1994.
right: A.R. Gurney, 2014
Gurney grew up attending the theatre with his grandmother on
Saturdays in Buffalo, and he discovered a passion for playwriting
at Williams College, where he graduated in 1952. He went on to
serve as an officer in the Navy, where he organized variety shows,
and when he returned he earned a degree in playwriting
from the Yale School of Drama in 1958. He taught literature
and humanities at MIT, and eventually moved to New York
in 1982 to devote his full attention to writing.
Gurney’s love of the stage and of teaching is
matched only by his devotion to family:
he has been married to his wife Molly
for over fifty years and they have
four children and eight
grandchildren.
Literary Associate
Sarah Rose Leonard
sat down with Gurney
after a design meeting
for The Wayside Motor Inn
to talk about a lifetime
of writing, intergenerational
connections, and gently
breaking the rules.