{"id":907,"date":"2014-02-28T05:01:39","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T05:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=907"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:50:33","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:50:33","slug":"mary-roberts-rinehart-pittsburgh-novelist-and-mystery-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/02\/28\/mary-roberts-rinehart-pittsburgh-novelist-and-mystery-writer\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Roberts Rinehart, Pittsburgh novelist and mystery writer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rinehart <\/a>
Rinehart with husband Stanley and their three sons in the family\u2019s Beech Street home in 1909. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rinehart <\/a>
Rinehart graduated from a Pittsburgh nursing school in 1896. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Blas <\/a>
Blas Reyes is the chef who attempted to murder Rinehart. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Reinhart\u2019s <\/a>
Reinhart\u2019s Beech Street home on Pittsburgh\u2019s North Side has been restored. (Annie O\u2019Neill\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

With the publication of \u00a0\u201cThe Circular Staircase\u201d in 1908, Mary Roberts Rinehart established a national reputation as an author of mysteries when her book sold more than a million copies.<\/p>\n

A charming, dark-haired storyteller, the Pittsburgh native was prolific, producing a total of 60 books and seven plays. During World War I, she was a war correspondent based in Belgium for The Saturday Evening Post. When the armistice was signed in 1919, she was in Paris.<\/p>\n

Success made her a celebrity and her wealth paid for an elegant home in Sewickley, a 24-room seaside retreat in Bar Harbor, Maine, and a posh New York apartment on Park Avenue. Kenneth Parker of The Parker Pen Company created a snub-nosed fountain pen for the author after she complained that she could not find a writing instrument to capture her thoughts on paper as quickly as they spilled from her mind. (She wrote in longhand.)<\/p>\n

In a Victorian era when most women aspired to be wives and mothers,\u00a0Mrs. Rinehart\u00a0began studying nursing at age 17. Many of her patients were factory\u00a0workers who were mangled by machinery. What she saw imbued her with compassion for human suffering and a strong distaste for social injustice.<\/p>\n

At Pittsburgh\u2019s Homeopathic Hospital, she met Dr. Stanley Rinehart. While the hospital prohibited friendships, let alone romances, between doctors and staff, the couple became secretly engaged in 1894 and married in 1896. It was a fresh start for Mrs. Rinehart, whose father, a frustrated inventor, had committed suicide in 1895.<\/p>\n

The young couple gambled in the stock market, lost all their savings in a 1903 crash and wound up $12,000 in debt. While Dr. Rinehart continued to make house calls, Mrs. Rinehart began writing verse, short stories and articles.<\/p>\n

By 1907, the Rineharts had three young sons \u2014 Stan Jr., Alan and Ted \u2014 and had moved to a larger home in the 900 block of Beech Street on the North Side.<\/p>\n

A year later, publication of \u201cThe Circular Staircase\u201d launched Mrs. Rineharts\u2019 career as a novelist and mystery writer.<\/p>\n

In 1920, \u201cThe Bat,\u201d a play she wrote with Avery Hopwood, was a smash hit on Broadway. Touring productions featuring a costumed criminal were staged throughout the country. In 1946, Life Magazine reported that more than 10 million people saw the play and that it grossed more than $9 million.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Rinehart loved to climb mountains, fish and ride horses. \u00a0She also smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. Her day typically started with breakfast in bed. She then wrote from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and took tea at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rinehart died in 1932. In his absence, his widow traveled often and worked obsessively.<\/p>\n

In 1947, Mrs. Rinehart\u2019s life became a melodrama when Plas Reyes, a chef she had employed for 25 years, tried to kill her at her summer home in Maine. The gun he used misfired. Mrs. Rinehart fled and was rescued by her chauffeur, who threw Reyes to the floor. The chef later hung himself in jail.<\/p>\n

In 1954, the author published \u201cA Light in the Window.\u201d That same year, the Mystery Writers of America gave her a special award. By then, she was too ill to attend the dinner staged in her honor. At age 82, she died in New York City in 1958.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mary Roberts Rinehart established a national reputation as an author of mysteries when her book sold more than a million copies.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesMary Roberts Rinehart, Pittsburgh novelist and mystery writer<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[995,1034,1035,1178],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/tumblr_n1ohc6C4xE1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C753&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":265,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/09\/12\/pittsburgh-north-sides-legendary-boggs\/","url_meta":{"origin":907,"position":0},"title":"The North Side\u2019s legendary Boggs & Buhl","date":"September 12, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"For 89 years, Boggs & Buhl department store stood as a beacon of cozy commerce on the North Side.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/tumblr_nbr3gpN0m51rr5swxo5_r1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C811&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5619,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/07\/29\/the-57-steelers-and-their-colorful-chain-smoking-coach\/","url_meta":{"origin":907,"position":1},"title":"The ’57 Steelers and their colorful, chain-smoking coach","date":"July 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The 1957 Steelers entered training camp as a lousy team, but new coach Buddy Parker was determined to make winners out of losers, even if he had to resort to fisticuffs.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Digs.TumblrHTY_buddyparker006.jpg?fit=1080%2C870&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1931,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/27\/where-is-the-worlds-skinniest-building-pittsburgh-has-an-excellent-candidate\/","url_meta":{"origin":907,"position":2},"title":"Where is the world’s skinniest building? 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