Myrtle Reed

Who was Myrtle Reed?

Myrtle Reed was an American author, poet, journalist, and philanthropist, the daughter of author Elizabeth Armstrong Reed and the preacher Hiram von Reed. She wrote a number of bestsellers and even published a series of cookbooks under the pseudonym Olive Green.

She was born in Illinois and graduated from the West Division High School, Chicago, Illinois where she edited the school's newspaper called The Voice. In 1906, she married James Sydney McCullough, a Canadian pen-pal who edited a college newspaper in Toronto. She was a diagnosed insomniac with prescribed sleeping drafts. She died August 17, 1911 of an overdose of sleeping powder taken with suicidal intent in her flat, called "Paradise Flat" at 5120 Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Her suicide letter, written to her maid, Annie Larsen, was published the following day. Her will directed her estate be divided among eight charities which, for several years, had been favorites of their benefactor, however her estate was subjected to at least two different lawsuits. Paradise Flat, the residence in which she died, was burgled during her funeral; among the stolen items were several de luxe or limited edition novels written by the decedent. A famous epigram of Myrtle Reed, taken from Threads of Gray and Gold: "The only way to test a man is to marry him. If you live, it's a mushroom. If you die, it's a toadstool."