The Old Globe fondly remembers a dear member of our  family, Timothy Mason, who passed away in September.  Through his script and lyrics for Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch  Stole Christmas!, Tim effortlessly melded the words of Dr.  Seuss’s beloved book with his own creations, conjuring  an entire world of enchantment and cheer onstage. His  contributions found shimmering depths in the source  material and have made Who-ville burst with life for over  25 years.

Tim held a lifelong passion for creating theatre for young  audiences. After spending his childhood onstage at  Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, he wrote plays  for the company in college, and went on to become their  resident playwright. He also created the Young Americans  Cycle, a collection of five plays exploring significant  historical moments through the eyes of children. It was  this insight that drove what he, along with collaborator Mel Marvin, crafted in The Grinch.

In addition to his productions for youth and families, Tim was a noted playwright and novelist for adults.  In stage works like Levitation, Babylon Gardens, and Only You, he married a keen eye for society’s fault  lines with a whip-smart sense of humor. And he thrilled readers with his historical mystery novels The Darwin Affair and its sequel The Nightingale Affair, the latter of which was published earlier this year. His talents transcended individual genres to create a body of work of uncommon versatility. 

Audiences and critics alike took notice. His shows sold out theatres across the country and his books appeared regularly on best seller lists, while The New York Times praised  his “vivid writing” and The Wall Street Journal called his work “intellectually  stimulating and viscerally exciting.” He also received numerous awards  throughout his career, from institutions as hallowed as the National  Endowment for the Arts, the Kennedy Center, and the National  Society of Arts and Letters. 

We at The Old Globe, however, are lucky enough to have also known  the man behind the acclaim. Tim was a kind and generous  artist, one whose wit and warmth were as apparent behind  the scenes as they were in his onstage productions. We will  miss him tremendously as a colleague, as will the wider  theatrical and literary worlds. But we are honored to keep  his memory vibrantly alive with Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch  Stole Christmas!, which will share with audiences his  prodigious talents for many years to come

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Photo: Book writer and lyricist Timothy Mason. Photo courtsey of The Old Globe.