Kathryn Forbes (1908–1966)
Author of Mama's Bank Account
About the Author
Kathryn Forbes, a pseudonym for Kathryn Anderson McClean, was born on March 10, 1909, in San Francisco, Calif. and educated at Mount View High School. Forbes's book of short stories, Mama's Bank Account (1943), was dramatized by John Van Druten, produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstien II, show more and reached the Music Box Theater on Broadway as "I Remember Mama" in 1944. It was adapted to film in 1948 and became a popular television show for the Columbia Broadcasting Company, running from 1949 to 1957. Forbes's other work includes Transfer Point (1947) as well as magazine articles and radio scripts. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Works by Kathryn Forbes
Transfer point 1 copy
Associated Works
The Ethnic Image in Modern American Literature, 1900-1950, Volumes 1-2 (1984) — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Forbes, Kathryn
- Other names
- Anderson, Kathryn (birth)
- Birthdate
- 1908-03-20
- Date of death
- 1966-05-15
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- short story writer
memoirist
radio scriptwriter
novelist - Short biography
- Kathryn Forbes was the pseudonym of Kathryn Anderson, author of the best-selling collection of stories concerning the daily struggles of an emigrant Norwegian family living in San Francisco in the early 1900s entitled Mama’s Bank Account (1943), which was adapted for the stage, cinema, and television as I Remember Mama by John Van Druten. Both of her Kathryn's parents were native-born Americans, but her grandmother had come to the USA in the late 19th century. Her 1947 novel Transfer Point took a less nostalgic look at life in San Francisco after World War I. Kathryn married Robert McLean, a carpenter, with whom she had two sons.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Places of residence
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Place of death
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Burial location
- Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Colma, California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- San Francisco, California, USA
Members
Reviews
In PB reprint from 1943: this trove of delightful little gems about an indomitable Norwegian matriarch of early twentieth-century San Francisco. Mama manages five kids, her own squabbling siblings, money problems, medical crises, and a growing number of boarders with optimism and insight. A fine antidote to our own coarse and indulgent times. I was saying Mama's mantra "is good, is good" and grinning ear to ear by the middle of the book.
When I first proposed to read this story aloud to my children, my oldest, then perhaps 8 or 9 years old, protested loudly! She thought it was going to be a series of numbers and notes about expenditures that I was going to read to her. It only took a little persuading and a few pages before she was hooked.
This is a true story - really a set of simple reminiscences - about a Norwegian immigrant family living in San Francisco in the early 1900s (somewhere between the 1906 earthquake and World show more War I). The stories center around the author's mother, "Mama" - a wonderful character who is difficult to describe with just a few quick adjectives. This is partly because the author reveals her mother's character through favorite family stories in a lovely, subtle way (with plenty of laugh-out-loud spots!). You come to see that Mama is shrewd but completely selfless; she has a wonderful grasp of human nature, but is easily misunderstood (by friends, relatives or readers of the book) because she so readily sees what is good in everyone; she is quiet, but oh, SO stubborn and certainly knows how to get things done in spite of insurmountable odds! Looking through Mama's eyes at the interesting characters that come into her life is a wonderful experience and one you shouldn't miss.
Here's a little part of a story to give you a little sense of the book. A boarder, Mr. Hyde, has lived with their family for some time and enthralled all of them by reading classic novels aloud to them every night.
Even when the warm weather came we children didn't beg to go out in the evenings to play one-foot-off-the-gutter. I think Mama was glad; she never liked us running the streets.
Best of all, Nels went less and less to the street corner to hang around with the neighborhood boys. The night they got into trouble for breaking into Mr. Dillon's store Nels was home with us. He'd wanted to hear the last chapter of Dombey and Son.
Mr. Hyde had taken us deep into Ivanhoe when he got the letter.
"I must go," he told Mama. "I shall leave the books for Nels and the children. Here is my check for all I owe you, madam, and my profound thanks for your hospitality."
We were sorry to see Mr. Hyde leave, but it was with great excitement that we brought his books out into the kitchen. There were so many of them! We read some of the titles: A Tale of Two Cities, Nicholas Nickleby, Vanity Fair, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist, A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Mama dusted them reverently. "So much we can learn," she said. Nels, she added, could read aloud to us each evening, just as Mr. Hyde had done, because Nels too had a fine voice. I could see that made him very proud.
Mama showed Mr. Hyde's check to Aunt Jenny. "You see?" she said. "The warm coat I shall have after all."
It was too bad that Aunt Jenny was still there when Mr. Kruper came. Mr. Kruper owned the restaurant and bakery down the street and he was angry.
"That man Hyde was a crook!" he shouted. "Look at this check he gave me. It's no good! The bank people tell me he cashed them all over the neighborhood."
Aunt Jenny's triumphant nod said as plainly as words - I told you so!
"I'll bet he owes you folks plenty, too, eh?" Mr. Kruper asked.
Mama looked around at all of us. Her eyes rested longest on Nels. "Read," she told him gently, "read to us from Ivanhoe."
Then she walked to the stove and put the check into the flames.
"No," she answered Mr. Kruper. "No. He owes us nothing."
I think this is best as a solo read for the 12 and up crowd, though it could be read aloud - perhaps with a little explanation or discussion along the way - to children much younger.
If you've ever seen the movie I Remember Mama (1948) with Irene Dunne, you're already acquainted with the main characters of this lovely little book. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out on a real treasure that could be enjoyed before or after this book. But that's a matter for a separate review. show less
This is a true story - really a set of simple reminiscences - about a Norwegian immigrant family living in San Francisco in the early 1900s (somewhere between the 1906 earthquake and World show more War I). The stories center around the author's mother, "Mama" - a wonderful character who is difficult to describe with just a few quick adjectives. This is partly because the author reveals her mother's character through favorite family stories in a lovely, subtle way (with plenty of laugh-out-loud spots!). You come to see that Mama is shrewd but completely selfless; she has a wonderful grasp of human nature, but is easily misunderstood (by friends, relatives or readers of the book) because she so readily sees what is good in everyone; she is quiet, but oh, SO stubborn and certainly knows how to get things done in spite of insurmountable odds! Looking through Mama's eyes at the interesting characters that come into her life is a wonderful experience and one you shouldn't miss.
Here's a little part of a story to give you a little sense of the book. A boarder, Mr. Hyde, has lived with their family for some time and enthralled all of them by reading classic novels aloud to them every night.
Even when the warm weather came we children didn't beg to go out in the evenings to play one-foot-off-the-gutter. I think Mama was glad; she never liked us running the streets.
Best of all, Nels went less and less to the street corner to hang around with the neighborhood boys. The night they got into trouble for breaking into Mr. Dillon's store Nels was home with us. He'd wanted to hear the last chapter of Dombey and Son.
Mr. Hyde had taken us deep into Ivanhoe when he got the letter.
"I must go," he told Mama. "I shall leave the books for Nels and the children. Here is my check for all I owe you, madam, and my profound thanks for your hospitality."
We were sorry to see Mr. Hyde leave, but it was with great excitement that we brought his books out into the kitchen. There were so many of them! We read some of the titles: A Tale of Two Cities, Nicholas Nickleby, Vanity Fair, The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist, A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Mama dusted them reverently. "So much we can learn," she said. Nels, she added, could read aloud to us each evening, just as Mr. Hyde had done, because Nels too had a fine voice. I could see that made him very proud.
Mama showed Mr. Hyde's check to Aunt Jenny. "You see?" she said. "The warm coat I shall have after all."
It was too bad that Aunt Jenny was still there when Mr. Kruper came. Mr. Kruper owned the restaurant and bakery down the street and he was angry.
"That man Hyde was a crook!" he shouted. "Look at this check he gave me. It's no good! The bank people tell me he cashed them all over the neighborhood."
Aunt Jenny's triumphant nod said as plainly as words - I told you so!
"I'll bet he owes you folks plenty, too, eh?" Mr. Kruper asked.
Mama looked around at all of us. Her eyes rested longest on Nels. "Read," she told him gently, "read to us from Ivanhoe."
Then she walked to the stove and put the check into the flames.
"No," she answered Mr. Kruper. "No. He owes us nothing."
I think this is best as a solo read for the 12 and up crowd, though it could be read aloud - perhaps with a little explanation or discussion along the way - to children much younger.
If you've ever seen the movie I Remember Mama (1948) with Irene Dunne, you're already acquainted with the main characters of this lovely little book. If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out on a real treasure that could be enjoyed before or after this book. But that's a matter for a separate review. show less
(#34 in the 2007 book challenge)
It's a collection of memoirs/stories/anecdotes based on memoirs written by a daughter about her family, recent immigrants to San Francisco. Well, recent at the time, I believe most of them took place in the 1910s and 20s. They're all very droll and usually illustrate some sort of moral, which is nice, but this is one of those books where when you take a closer look, it's a little amazing how simple the stories seem and yet how absolutely intentional and show more skillful they are. And of course, they are about one of my favorite things, domestic life in the 1910s. This was so popular when it was published that a movie and then a TV series were based on it, although I have seen neither.
Grade: B+
Recommended: This is a little on the bland side, but it made a great book discussion book because it was such a good jumping off point to talk about the immigrant experience and that particular time period, and provided lots of fodder for people to compare it to other books with similar themes as well as more personal family experiences. It's also a quick read. show less
It's a collection of memoirs/stories/anecdotes based on memoirs written by a daughter about her family, recent immigrants to San Francisco. Well, recent at the time, I believe most of them took place in the 1910s and 20s. They're all very droll and usually illustrate some sort of moral, which is nice, but this is one of those books where when you take a closer look, it's a little amazing how simple the stories seem and yet how absolutely intentional and show more skillful they are. And of course, they are about one of my favorite things, domestic life in the 1910s. This was so popular when it was published that a movie and then a TV series were based on it, although I have seen neither.
Grade: B+
Recommended: This is a little on the bland side, but it made a great book discussion book because it was such a good jumping off point to talk about the immigrant experience and that particular time period, and provided lots of fodder for people to compare it to other books with similar themes as well as more personal family experiences. It's also a quick read. show less
In episodic chapters, the author draws on the experiences of her Norwegian immigrant grandmother to describe a family in San Fransisco in the early 1900s, and their steadfast Mama.
I picked this up from the library on a whim, because as I was looking at the book, I was almost certain that I'd read it before. Or part of it. I'm still not entirely sure. Two of the stories - "Mama and the Graduation Present" and "Mama and Uncle Elizabeth" - I believe were in one of my literature books as an show more elementary or middle school student. I really enjoyed these heartwarming and often funny stories. Each chapter could be read nearly on its own, though time moves on, and some references are made to past chapters. The importance of family, and Mama's oft-repeated phrase, "It is good," are at the heart of this story. show less
I picked this up from the library on a whim, because as I was looking at the book, I was almost certain that I'd read it before. Or part of it. I'm still not entirely sure. Two of the stories - "Mama and the Graduation Present" and "Mama and Uncle Elizabeth" - I believe were in one of my literature books as an show more elementary or middle school student. I really enjoyed these heartwarming and often funny stories. Each chapter could be read nearly on its own, though time moves on, and some references are made to past chapters. The importance of family, and Mama's oft-repeated phrase, "It is good," are at the heart of this story. show less
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