The Resume

(June 21, 1912-October 25, 1989)
Born in Seattle, Washington
Wrote 'The Company They Keep' (1942), 'The Oasis' (1949), 'The Groves of Academe' (1952), 'A Charmed Life' (1955), 'Memories of a Catholic Girlhood' (1957), 'The Group' (1962), 'Vietnam' (1967), 'Birds of America' (1971) and 'Ideas and the Novel' (1980)
Sister of actor Kevin McCarthy

Why she might be annoying:

She was married four times, divorced three times.
In her autobiography, she described her second husband, critic Edmund Wilson, as a 'fat, puffing' old man whom she never loved.
She wrote criticism for the Partisan Review while sleeping with the editor.
She was called 'the lady with the switchblade' for her cutting remarks.
She was sued for libel after saying of Lillian Hellman, 'Every word she writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.''

Why she might not be annoying:

At age six, she was orphaned when both her parents died in the Spanish flu epidemic.
She was sent to live with an abusive aunt and uncle who beat her after she won an academic prize to keep her from developing a 'swelled head.'
Commenting on her atheism, she said, 'If the kind of God exists who would damn me for not working out a deal with Him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person.'
Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., said, 'I absolutely adored Mary. I was transfixed by her. She was so beautiful, so witty, so much fun to talk to.'
Her feud with Hellman inspired Nora Ephron's musical 'Imaginary Friends.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Born on the First Day of Summer [June 21st] (Ranked: 1912)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 21]
• Daily Beast's 11 Greatest Literary Feuds [2010] (Ranked: 7)
• Dick Cavett Show Guests
• Double M Initials
• Gallup/CNN/USA Today's Most Admired Women [1965]
• Guggenheim Fellowship Grant Recipients
• I am an Atheist
• I Attended Vassar
• I Died in 1989 (Ranked: 77)
• I Have Lung Cancer
• I Inspired a Musical
• I was Adopted or Orphaned
• Influenced by Hannah Arendt
• People with John or Mary in their Names
• Profiles 26001-26250 (Ranked: 26160)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 53 Votes: 79.25% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 18 Votes: 61.11% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 36 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 27 Votes: 66.67% Annoying