The Climbers (dodo Press)

Clyde Fitch (1865-1909) was an American dramatist. Born William Clyde Fitch at Elmira, New York, he wrote over 60 plays, 36 of them original, which varied from social comedies and farces to melodrama and historical dramas. He was the first American playwright to publish his plays. His first work of note was Beau Brummell (1890) a major work set in the Regency-era. His 1892 play Masked Ball (an adaption from Alexandre Bisson's Le Veglione) would be the first time that Charles Frohman put Maude Adams opposite John Drew which led to many future successes. He is remembered particularly for his works such as Nathan Hale (1898), The Climbers (1901), The Girl with the Green Eyes (1902), The Truth (1907), Her Own Way (1907) and The City (1909). His works were popular on both sides of the Atlantic. His play based on the heroine of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem Barbara Frietchie met with mixed reviews in 1899 because of the romance he added to the tale, but it would be successfully revived a number of times.