Former East Hampton Resident Dorothy Wheelock Edson Dies At 103

Dorothy Wheelock Edson

Former East Hampton resident Dorothy Wheelock Edson of Lyme, New Hampshire, died on September 30 at her home. She was 103.

Born May 6, 1907, in Cedarhurst, New York, to Mary Bertha Kern Newbold Wheelock and Harry Delos Wheelock, her father was a descendant of Eleazar Wheelock, a founder of Dartmouth College. Her mother was the daughter of Reverend Charles Laurie Newbold, pastor of Christ Church in Manhasset. She attended Lawrence High School in Cedarhurst and The New School for Social Research in New York City.

In 1928 she married Robert A. Snyder at Beaufort, South Carolina, and in 1931 their daughter, Carol Gay Snyder, was born. However, the two divorced after 11 years. In 1941, she married Milton Wesley “Ru” Edson. The Edsons raised Ms. Snyder as their daughter, and later raised Gay’s son, Stephen, from a toddler. Mr. Edson died in 1985.

A writer, Ms. Edson published two suspense novels, “Murder at Montauk” (1940) and “Dead Giveaway (1942) under her maiden name of Wheelock. From 1940 to 1957, she was associate editor of Harper’s Bazaar, planning features, instigating and attending photographic sittings, and writing articles. Her work brought her in contact with notables and celebrities such as John Huston, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Durante, Merle Oberon, Veronica Lake, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Yul Brynner, Eudora Welty and so many others. She knew and became close friends with many of these well-known people; she was especially good friends with James Mason and his wife.

In 1958, she became editor of Islands in the Sun Club, a membership magazine for people interested in isles in the West Indies and other islands in the world. Mr. Edson was also involved with this effort, publishing Retiring to the Caribbean and Terry’s Guide to the Caribbean. When the Sun Club grew to 10,000 members, Ms. Edson sold it and moved with her husband to East Hampton.

In East Hampton, she was connected in various capacities with East Hampton Playhouse and Guild Hall for summer theatre and a showcase gallery for early members of the South End Art Colony, including Jasper Jones, Jackson Pollock and others. For 30 years thereafter, she was a writing instructor first with Famous Writers at Westport, Connecticut, later with The Institute of Children’s Literature at Redding Ridge, Connecticut, and finally, with Long Ridge Writers Group, also in Redding Ridge. Ms. Edson retired in 1998 at the age of 91.

Throughout her life, she has also lived in Oyster Bay; Wilton, Connecticut; Newburyport, Massachusetts; and Newbury, Vermont. As the oldest resident of Lyme, she was awarded Lyme’s Boston Post Cane on October 30, 2008.

In addition to her husband of 49 years, Wesley Edson, she was predeceased by her daughter, Carol Gay Snyder, in 1995; a sister, Val Wheelock Lownes; and a brother, Newbold D. Wheelock. She is survived by her grandson, Stephen Edson Giger of New Hampshire.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.