Discipline: Literature

Sigmund Miller

Discipline: Literature
Region: New York, NY
MacDowell Fellowships: 1962, 1966, 1973
Sigmund Miller (1918-1998) was an entertainment writer who moved into scientific reference literature at an age when most people retired. A writer for radio and screen for many years, he was able to change his ambitions and talents as necessity required. His play One Bright Day had a run on Broadway in 1952, and was recast for London a year later. He also worked in the film world, writing original scripts which included, for British studios, Wicked as They Come (1956) and Jet Storm (1959), but also developing a separate talent as a script doctor. When he returned to New York in the early 1960s, his two sons then being of school age, he re-entered the world of commercial filmmaking. He also decided to investigate the causes of illness and in particular the American obsession with symptoms, real or imagined, and the result was a large reference book, Symptoms: the complete home medical encyclopedia (1979), that helped its buyers pin down what was wrong with them and what to do about it. It became a bestseller and went through many editions and updates.

Studios

Barnard

Sigmund Miller worked in the Barnard studio.

Originally built near MacDowell's Union Street entrance, the Barnard Studio — which was funded by Barnard College music students — was re-located to its current site in 1910. When the small structure was moved, its size was doubled with the addition of a second room. This remodeling, financed by Mrs. Thomas E. Emery of Cincinnati…

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