Rose Franken

Who was Rose Franken?

Rose Dorothy Lewin Franken, author and playwright, was born on December 28, 1895, in Gainesville, Texas, the youngest child of Michael and Hannah Lewin. In 1914 she married Sigmund W.A. Franken, an oral surgeon who died in 1932. They had three children, including physicist Peter Franken. In 1937 she married writer William Brown Meloney. She died in Tucson, Arizona, on June 22, 1988.

Her books included Of Great Riches, Strange Victory, Claudia: The Story of A Marriage, and When Doctors Disagree. From her novel Claudia and a Redbook magazine serial story, "Claudia and David," Franken developed a play, a radio series, and two films. These works led to a television series.

She was one of the artists and writers to visit Melrose Plantation on the Cane River in Louisiana.