Living Large: Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason

An absolutely delightful read of the lives of two 20th century artists, Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason. Spanning the Victorian age to the 70s they were involved in many of the arts: music, acting, painting etc. and knew many of the famous names of the era.
The author fills the book with photos of the two subjects as well as examples of their art, which for someone that wasn't aware of their work is very much appreciated. Although filled with information the text is easily read and enticing. You don't realize how much time has passed because you are so engrossed in the writing. The format of the book is also a work of art. When I finished the book I just wanted to cry. I had come to love the "Big Girls" and their extended families.
I don't show more usually keep the early reviewers books because they usually aren't top notch but this one is a keeper. show less

The author is a film historian and biographer known for detailed panache and avoiding stuffed shirt subjects. I love the idiom -- "Living Large" -- which he chose for the ironic and endearing title of this dual biography.

Eckhardt portrays two liberal iconoclasts of the 20th century: Wilna Hervey (1894-1979) and Nan Mason (1896-1982). The book is a detailed glimpse into the silent film industry, which made a star of a six foot three inch American Amazon with a gift for physical comedy. The "story" goes on from black-and-white silent moving pictures, to the vivid colorful tapestry of American art from its epicenters in the village of Woodstock, just outside New York, the Mecca of Carmel Valley, California, and finally to Manatee County, show more Florida.
This book is also a love story in a garden with clowns. Behind the staid puritanism of America in the 1900s, two women held up joy and a gentle caring spirit, with mighty arms and palettes of color! The book includes pictures of the art, as well as the artists, "Willie" and Nan. The book documents the hard work, and the transformative results, of America in its progressive period. There was a time when Americans brought joy to the world. We miss that spirit. These giants of the arts will convince all readers that life is large. This is huge! show less

LIVING LARGE is a tribute, not a biography, but Joseph Eckhardt's sensitive, classy, and thoughtful tribute book to the lives of Wilna Hervey and her partner, Nan Mason, is a lovely and very special book. Wilna, a 6'3" player in silent films and the daughter of a prosperous household and Nan, a 6'0" dynamo whose father was a well-known film actor from silents to talkies, were destined to meet. The fact they spent their lives together until death is poignant, fascinating, and a testament to the validity of a true "soul mate."

Eckhardt's interest began with the silent film industry, especially the Toonerville Trolley comedies in which Wilna played "The Powerful Katrinka." Eckhardt's previous work and interest had focused not only on the show more early film industry but also American art and artists, so when he studied the Toonerville Trolley movies and became interested in the very Amazonian woman who played Katrinka, he also opened up a magic box that led to the up-and-down lives of Wilna and Nan as well as all the art they created.

The book - a large format hardcover filled with black-and-white photographs that illustrate Wilna and Nan's lives as well as full-color reproductions of many of the women's art pieces - is a spectacular presentation. There is a great deal to look at and even more to read. It is an amazing book that will provide many readers with endless fascination. It will be of special interest to those who live in the Woodstock, NY area as Wilna and Nan spent much of their lives there, and to anyone researching American women artists.

Eckhardt is forthright about the women's long journey to understanding money and finance as they went from rich to poor to moderately comfortable to comfortable again. The book conveys the lengths the women were willing to go to maintain their independence. Besides work in films and art making, the two were - at one point or another - farmers, candlemakers, house painters, gardeners, real-estate investors, and landlords. In other words, they lived wide, creative, and unusual lives, Nan appearing to be the more practical and the one most willing to venture into new work and ways to bring in income.

Because LIVING LARGE is a tribute book and not a biography, one does feel the loss of intimacy that one often gets in reading a fully researched story of a life or lives. Eckhardt produced an admirable book, but the reader will feel the lack of Wilna and Nan's voices. At one point in the narrative, Eckhardt mentions that the loft over their Woodstock barn studio was filled with memorabilia and other possessions and items dear to Wilna, in particular. Where did those items go? Was no correspondence between the two women preserved or, because they lived together for decades, did they rarely have the opportunity to write to each other? Didn't either one keep a journal? This is what is missing from LIVING LARGE, the thoughts going through the women's heads, the passion of their love, their feelings on their status and comfort level as lesbians.

Specialists of Women's Studies or of LGBTQ History are going to feel a slight letdown when reading this otherwise wonderful book. No where does Eckhardt address the political issues of women and/or lesbians during the relevant decades in which Wilna or Nan were together. He does, however, portray Woodstock, NY as an accepting haven of artists and of Wilna and Nan as an accepted couple among the mostly straight married couples with whom they socialized.

In the wintertime, Nan and Wilna often spent their time on Anna Maria Island near Sarasota, FL where their benefactor - Ruth Hart Eddy (who, Eckhardt implies, knew no other lesbians other than herself and her own partner, Alice Gilman, except for Wilna and Nan) helped them purchase a home. Between Woodstock, NY and Florida, the reader follows Wilna and Nan through many jobs, friendships, pets, and much art making. There will be comparisons to Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, to be sure, but Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason feel closer to us in many ways due to Eckhardt's touching tribute. LIVING LARGE should be experienced as the magnificent tribute that it is, but it should be kept in mind that there is room to know more and somewhere out there, there may be a researcher who wants to dig deeper and write a more in-depth biography. The ultimate question: which woman - Nan or Wilna - was the most fascinating? And is the fascination they hold for readers due to their being blended as a couple into an almost super-human "one woman?" show less

I was pleasantly surprised by how engrossing this book was. I didn't know anything about silent film or the Woodstock art community and really had no interest in the subject prior to reading this story, but the book was so well written that I couldn't help but be intrigued. Such a sweet story of two women who managed to live life to the fullest with one another at a time when that must have been difficult, both for same sex couples and for women in general. I was incredibly impressed by both of them. The only regret I have after reading this book is that I will never have the opportunity to know its subjects. Well done.

I received a copy of "Living Large" in exchange for an honest review.
I am happy to say that I loved this book. It's a carefully and lovingly researched biography of two women I had never heard of --Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason. As it turned out, their life story was fascinating.

Born in 1894, Wilna Hervey, a large child from birth, grew to be 6’4” and weigh 350 pounds; her size led to her being cast as ‘Powerful Katrinka’ in the Toonerville Trolley silent movies. Of the two women, she is the best known, mainly by fans of silent film.

Wilma had well-to-do loving parents, who educated her at home since she did not fit in at school with other girls. She was artistic from a young age, but shy. Drawing and painting were her main show more passions; however it was as Mighty Katrinka that she was best known, even though that was a short part of her long life. And it was through the Toonerville movies and her co-star Dan Mason, that she met the woman with whom she’d spend the rest of her life: Mason’s daughter, Nan.

Nan and Wilna had no intentions of being a couple at first; they both were involved with men- Nan had a fiance. But their lives fit together. Nan was nearly as tall as Wilna, and they shared an interest in art. They found that life in the Woodstock area, in an artist’s colony, suited them very well. And since Wilna was an heiress, they could afford to live as they pleased. The Big Girls as they were known lived together 59 years in harmony, with a large circle of friends and fellow artists.

I especially enjoyed the many vintage photographs and illustrations which the publisher, Woodstock Arts, included in this handsome edition. For me, this book is a keeper. show less

I absolutely love reading about the lives of people and I find biographies are even better if they are about one person and also the person that meant the most to them in their lives.

Living Large is a wonderful portrait of two unusual women who were unusual apart and even more unusual together. The parties, the wild trips, the crazy stunts.... wow. I should hope to live half the life even one of these ladies did.

But the real gift of the story was showing the relationship between them, how two people lived a joint life for all those years. In today's world that so rarely happens any more and maybe there is something for all of us to learn here.

Living Large is a celebration of the lives of artists Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason. It is also a story of their longtime loving relationship, and their shared passion for living life to the fullest. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a "coffee table" type book rather than a regular trade biography. The abundance of pictures, both personal and artistic, add another layer to their story by giving us an even closer look into their lives. Truly enjoyed it.