MS-124 Suzanne Clauser Papers

INTRODUCTION

Writer Suzanne Clauser donated her papers to the Wright State University Department of Archives and Special Collections in May 1981 and made two later additions. The collection dates from 1961 through 1993. It is arranged into 6 series as follows:

• Series 1: Early Work
• Series 2: BONANZA Material
• Series 3: A GIRL NAMED SOONER Novel and Screenplay
• Series 4: Television Screenplays
• Series 5: General Correspondence
• Series 6: Miscellaneous Material

Written permission from Mrs. Clauser is required for any publication or quotation from the material in this collection.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Suzanne Phillips Clauser was born in 1929 and grew up in a suburb near New York City. She attended Indiana University and was graduated in 1951 with a degree in American and British literature. In the same year, she married Charles Clauser, a graduate student finishing a Ph.D. in physical anthropology. In 1954 her husband was awarded a Fulbright Grant and the Clausers spent ten months in Burma and Rangoon. Eventually, the Clausers settled in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and in the early 1960's, Mrs. Clauser drew on her Asian experiences for her first successful writing effort, a travel reminiscence of India published in Blackwood's, a British literary journal.

After being published in Blackwood's, Mrs. Clauser began to write scripts for the BONANZA television series. Rod Serling, who came to Yellow Springs to teach a writing course at his Alma Mater, Antioch College, helped her sell her first script to BONANZA in 1964. During the next eight years, she supplied BONANZA with material regularly. By the time the series ceased production in 1972, BONANZA had accepted 13 Clauser scripts and produced 11.

Her first novel, A GIRL NAMED SOONER, was published by Doubleday and Company in 1972. It was well received and Mrs. Clauser was soon at work on its adaption to a full-length television movie. SOONER was shot on location in a small Southern Indiana town and aired in June of 1975. It received very high ratings as well as endorsements from the National Educational Association and the National Council of Churches.

Mrs. Clauser has written several highly regarded, full-length plays including PIONEER WOMAN (1974), THE FAMILY NOBODY WANTED (1974), GRANDPA AND FRANK (1977), a four-hour adaption of Alcott's LITTLE WOMEN (1978), and THE PRIDE OF JESSE HALLAM (1981), a story about adult functional illiterates which won an award for the best original television play for 1981. Clausen's CHRISTMAS SNOW aired in December of 1986 and was named best children's program at the 1987 Golden Gate Awards.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The papers within the Suzanne Clauser collection fall into six series or record groupings. The arrangement within the files is chronological.

Series I contains handwritten and typed drafts, correspondence and final published copies of two of Mrs. Clauser's early pieces, "The Green Key," a short story, and "Indian Ghosts," a travel reminiscence. Also included, are several drafts of an unpublished short story, "The Gift." Dates for this series are 1961 1962.

The BONANZA material in Series II covers the years 1962 1972 and contains correspondence and drafts for 9 of the 13 scripts Mrs. Clauser sold to the BONANZA television series. The correspondence is mainly with the BONANZA production staff and covers business matters, script revisions and various story ideas. The scripts in this series show an evolution through drafts and revisions to the "shooting final" copy.

Series III contains material pertaining to the novel, A GIRL NAMED SOONER and the television play of the same name. There is correspondence with publishers, Mrs. Clauser's literary agents, and television producers, as well as drafts and revisions of both the novel and screenplay. There is a copy of the published novel and a German language edition. Span dates for this series are 1968 1980.

Series IV contains drafts, revisions and "shooting finals" of full length Clauser screenplays, most of which have been produced for television. Two of the plays, PIONEER WOMAN and LITTLE WOMEN, also contain a prospectus for their expansion into a weekly series. Some plays represented in this series have their accompanying correspondence covering revisions, logistics of shooting, and various business matters. The material in this series covers the years 1973 1993.

The general correspondence in Series V is mostly with Mrs. Clauser's literary agents in New York and Hollywood and pertains to whatever writing project she was at work on at the time. The correspondence dates from 1963 1979.

Series VI, Miscellaneous Material, has biographical and professional data, a file of newspaper and magazine clippings, and a copy of NIGHT SONG by the late Constance Sontag, for which Mrs. Clauser wrote the foreword.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING