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=== Writers and literature === [[File:Massey House Blue Island August Fiedler.png|thumb|A [[Shingle Style]] house in Blue Island's "Silk Stocking" district by the architect August Fiedler, circa 1890.<ref>From the architect's drawings</ref>]] Over the years, Blue Island has provided the setting for the works of at least a couple of writers. In 1935, for example, the Chicago playwright and [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning author [[Margaret Ayer Barnes]] (1886-β1967) wrote the novel ''Edna, His Wife, an American Idyll'', using Blue Island as the first locale of the four that make up her story (the other three being Chicago, [[Washington, D.C.]], and [[New York City]]). The book chronicles the life of the title character who spent her formative years in Blue Island but leaves after she marries, becoming increasingly unhappy as she leads a more sophisticated life elsewhere while "...remain[ing] a Blue Island girl at heart." The book was later adapted into a one-woman play by [[Cornelia Otis Skinner]], and her opening night performance of it at the [[Harris and Selwyn Theaters|Harris Theater]] was enthusiastically received by Chicago society, which was pleased to "...have a chance to see a Chicago play in a Chicago theater..."<ref>{{cite news |last=Collins| first=Charles| title=Miss Skinner Tells a Novel in Monologs β Edna His Wife| newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=January 18, 1938 | pages=13}}</ref> Twelve years later, ''Gus the Great'', the [[Book of the Month Club]] selection for September 1947, was published. The book was a runaway best seller, and its author, [[Thomas William Duncan|Thomas W. Duncan]], is reputed to have earned $250,000 ({{inflation|US|250000|1947|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) in royalties from it, including $100,000 ({{inflation|US|100000|1947|r=-3|fmt=eq}}) from Universal Studios for the movie rights. It is the story of the life and adventures of Gus Burgoyne, a circus owner of questionable character.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,798192,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615031049/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,798192,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 15, 2009|title=Books: Fool's Paradise Lost|date=22 September 1947|magazine=Time}}</ref> Duncan was a college friend of Hill Lakin, the editor of the Blue Island ''Sun-Standard'', and, after a visit to the town's industrial section, he was inspired to use it for several scenes for his book.
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