Meher Baba's Life & Travels
Margaret Mayo (playwright)
1931
The Harmon retreat belonged to the playwright Margaret Mayo.
When she learned why Malcolm and Jean wished to rent it, she donated it for Baba's use. The stone house with red window frames was situated along the Croton River on the Albany Post Road, overlooking a wooded ravine. Baba's room stretched the length of the house on the river side with a balcony from which he could look out over the tree tops.
**Margaret Mayo was a successful Broadway playwright and she adapted several of her plays for the silent screen. Her play Polly of the Circus became the first film produced by the Goldwyn Company in 1917.
Kitty Davy's sister May Cluse, who was living in Canada, came to see Baba on the 19th of November. The owner of the house, Margaret Mayo, arrived at Harmon the next day.
While at Harmon, Baba assigned each person different duties and chalked out a schedule to be followed at the retreat after his departure. Margaret Mayo had been impressed by Baba. For his work, she had agreed to allow him to use the house for a year.
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In Harmon, the topic of making a film on spirituality was brought up; the theme was according to Baba's explanations on the purpose of creation, the outcome of the universe and the spiritual journey. On December 3rd, Margaret Mayo spoke to Jean and Malcolm about her friend who was a movie producer. She then explained to Baba that she could also write a detailed scenario if points were given to her. Baba immediately took her aside to work on the theme. In about an hour, Baba finished dictating the whole plot – the beginning of creation, the developing stages of evolution, reincarnation and the stories of three characters through five lifetimes to Realization. After reading it to the group, all said it was splendid and it was typed out.
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Later that evening, Margaret Mayo's friend, the movie producer Mr. Artkin, was invited over. Baba's story was read out. Impressed, Artkin said it was a grand idea. "Can it be properly worked out into a movie?" Baba asked him. "Certainly," Artkin assured Baba, and the film was discussed further. This film project was an idea that was to develop over the next few years.
Meher Baba's movie idea was based on the spiritual ' journey. The following adaptation, entitled A Touch of Maya, was given by Baba and used as the basis for several screenplays:
| Margaret Mayo | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 19, 1882(1882-11-19) Brownsville, Illinois, United States |
| Died |
February 25, 1951(1951-02-25) (aged 68) Ossining, New York, United States |
| Occupation | Playwright, Screenwriter, Actress |
Margaret Mayo, born Lillian Elizabeth Slatten[1] (November 19, 1882, Brownsville, Illinois - February 25, 1951, Ossining, New York), was an American actress, playwright and screenwriter.
Margaret Mayo was a stage actress from 1896 to 1903, when she retired from performing to devote herself to playwriting. Her earliest successes were adaptations of novels: The Marriage of William Ashe (1905) and The Jungle (1907). However, Mayo is best remembered as the author of more original plays such as Polly of the Circus (1907), Baby Mine (1910), Twin Beds (1914), and Seeing Things (1920), written with Aubrey Kennedy. She adapted several of her plays for the silent screen. Her play Polly of the Circus became the first film produced by the Goldwyn Company in 1917, of which she was a founding member along with her former husband Edgar Selwyn. [2] The play was again made into a film in 1932.
Margaret Mayo was instrumental in making housing arrangements for the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba at Harmon, near New York City, during his fist visit to America in 1931. She owned and provided the stone house retreat where he stayed on this first trip.
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