Helen (Aberson) Mayer (1907-1999) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

Helen Mayer formerly Aberson

Born 16 Jun 1907 in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York, United States

Daughter of Morris J. Aberson and Anna S (Blueston) Aberson

[sibling(s) unknown]

Wife of Harold Bernard Pearl — married 14 Feb 1938 (to 1940) in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York, United States

Wife of Richard Barnard Mayer — married 9 Sep 1944 in New York City, New York, United States

[children unknown]

Died 3 Apr 1999 at age 91 in New York City, New York, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: David Randall

[send private message]

Profile last modified 29 Nov 2023 | Created 24 Jun 2021

This page has been accessed 534 times.

Biography

Helen (Aberson) Mayer is Notable.

Helen was born 16 Jun 1907, in Syracuse, new York. She was the daughter of Morris and Anna Aberson. The working-class Aberson family had come from what is now Odessa in Ukraine. They settled in Syracuse, New York, in the late 1890s.

Helen graduated from Syracuse University of Speech in 1929. She then worked for a short time in Manhattan, where she did social services work.

In1933, she returned to Syracuse to direct dramatic actives at a children's camp and took a position as director of dramatical activities at a municipal recreational department. In August 1937, she started work as a radio commentator under the name Barbara Manning for station WSYR.

On 14 Feb 1938, Hellen married Hal Pearl 14 Feb 1938, a former New York newspaper man who had come to Syracuse as a publicity man for United Artist and stayed on after being offered a job as manager of a downtown Syracuse theater.

That same year, she wrote a children's story featuring the little elephant, based on her experiences growing up in poverty and facing discrimination as the daughter of Jewish immigrants to America from Russia. The book was illustrated by her husband, Hal. In 1939, the couple sold the book to the Syracuse-based Roll-a-Book publishing company. In turn the story was promptly sold to Walt Disney Productions, by Everett Whitmyre, the Syracuse advertising agent behind Roll-a-Book. [Whitmyre's Roll-a-Books were stories printed on a scroll in a box that the reader could advanced by turning a knob. No copies of the roll-a-book version of Dumbo have been found, though proofs of the story and examples of earlier versions of the medium indicate it did actually exist at one time.]

Helen soon found herself being flown out to California as a consultant on the Disney film version of her book – but always without pay. In time, she became disillusioned after major parts of the storyline were changed. For example, in her original story, Dumbo's mother was Mother Ella instead of Mrs. Jumbo, and Dumbo's helper was a robin called Red instead of a mouse called Timothy. In all, Helen is said to have received a paltry $1000 for her work. (Disney profited more than $1 million on the film). When the film became a hit, Helen tried to negotiate a better deal, but was unable to get anything more. According to her son, journalist Andrew Mayer, she never recovered from losing her much-loved story for such a measly sum, and died heartbroken.

Helen and Hal divorced in 1939, and following her brief work with Disney, Helen went to work as a clerk for the War Department. She did write some additional children's books, but none caught the attention of publishers.

In 1944, Helen married Richard J. Mayer, a former Wall Street Journal columnist and commodity editor she met while working for the office of War Information in Washington, DC.

Helen died 3 Apr 1999, in New York City, New York, at age 91