Vingie E. Lawton Roe (December 7, 1879 — August 13, 1958) was an American novelist and screenwriter.
Early life Vingetta Elizabeth Roe (some sources give her middle name as "Eve") was born in Oxford, Kansas and raised in Oklahoma Territory,Charles Robert Goins, Danney Goble, James H. Anderson, eds., Historical Atlas of Oklahoma (University of Oklahoma Press 2006): 232. the daughter of Maurice Pool Roe, a physician, and Clara Castanien Roe."Vingie E. Roe, by Herself" Sunset Monthly (March 1918): 21. As a child she was kept from school to preserve her weak eyesight."Vingie Roe, Successful Author, Gives Glimpses of her Writing Career" Press Democrat (June 16, 1929): 10. via Newspapers.com She briefly attended Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1902.Vingie E. Roe Collection, Oklahoma State University.
Career
Roe wrote more than thirty novels, mostly Westerns "with a feminist twist",Mary Jo Winter, "Forthright and Female: Vingie E. Roe" The Press Democrat (September 21, 2014). and dozens of stories published between 1906 and 1930 in publications including Sunset, Munsey's, McCall's and Collier's.Vingie E. Roe, Standard Index of Short Stories, 1900-1933. Her stories were also serialized in newspapers.Vingie E. Roe, "Nameless River" Nashua Reporter (July 29, 1925): 6. via Newspapers.comVingie E. Roe, "Sidney of Red Mountain House" Winnipeg Tribune (November 14, 1919): 12. via Newspapers.com Her first novel was The Maid of the Whispering Hills (1912),Vingie E. Roe, The Maid of the Whispering Hills (1912). which was praised as "a big novel by an author of great promise" in a San Francisco Call review."The Maid of the Whispering Hills" San Francisco Call (February 25, 1912): 7. via Newspapers.com "I stand for clean literature", she told an audience of writers in 1929. "I have never written a dirty sex story and I never will."
Her stories were adaptedAlan Goble, The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film (Walter de Gruyter 1999). into eight silent films and one sound picture.
Affiliations She was a member of the Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club, the Sacramento Branch of the League of American Penwomen, and the Author's League of America.
Personal life Vingie E. Roe married Raymond C. Lawton, an electrical engineer, in 1907. They lived in Oregon and owned an orchard. After they divorced, Vingie Roe lived with her mother at Lost Valley Ranch in Napa County, California. She had many farm animals on the ranch and employed John and William Haak as care takers. She hosted annual gatherings of women writers on her ranch."Writers to Honor Vingie E. Roe, Anna B. Mesquida" Press Democrat (June 19, 1935): 6. via Newspapers.com"Pen Women Enjoy Hospitality of Vingie Roe" Press Democrat (May 26, 1936): 8. via Newspapers.com She died in 1958 from heart problems at 78 years of age. Her papers are archived at Oklahoma State University.
Filmography The Heart of the Night Wind (1914)Vingie E. Roe, Heart of the Night Wind (Grosset & Dunlap 1913). Her Idol (1915) The Primal Lure (1916)Larry Langman, A Guide to Silent Westerns (Greenwood Publishing 1992): 340. Wild Honey (1918)"Wild Honey" Wichita Daily Eagle (May 17, 1919): 2. via Newspapers.com Twilight (1919), based on her story The Alchemy of Love The Crimson Challenge (1922, now lost), based on her novel Tharon of Lost Valley;Larry Langman, A Guide to Silent Westerns (Greenwood Publishing 1992): 96. one critic called this "the most impressive western film of 1922", and said it "may have been the first film centered on a female gunfighter".Henryk Hoffmann, Western Film Highlights: The Best of the West, 1914-2001 (McFarland 2009): 11 North of the Rio Grande (1922, now lost), based on her novel Val of ParadiseLarry Langman, A Guide to Silent Westerns (Greenwood Publishing 1992): 304-305. The Splendid Road (1925, now lost)Larry Langman, A Guide to Silent Westerns (Greenwood Publishing 1992): 424. A Perilous Journey (1953), based on her novel The Golden Tide" "Vingie E. Roe Story Sold in England" Press Democrat (August 2, 1945): 10. via Newspapers.com
References
External links
Vingie E. Roe Collection at Oklahoma State University