{{short description|American poet and writer (1883-1968)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Perry Newberry | image = Mayor Perry Newberry.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Mayor Perry Newberry (1922) | birth_name = Perry Harmon Newberry | birth_date = {{Birth date|1870|10|16}} | birth_place = Union City, Michigan, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1938|12|06|1870|10|16}} | death_place = Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, US | alma_mater = | occupation = Writer, actor, producer, mayor | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage| Bertha Newberry |1892|1934|end=d}} * {{marriage| Ida L. Brooks |1936}}}} | children = | office1 = 5th Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea | term_start1 = 1922 | term_end1 = 1924 | predecessor1 = William L. Maxwell | successor1 = William T. Kibbler }} '''Perry Harmon Newberry''' (October 16, 1870 – December 6, 1938) was an American journalist, writer, actor and producer. After working in Chicago and then in journalism in San Francisco, he moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California in 1910. There he became involved as an actor and producer at Forest Theater, and in writing, directing and producing large-scale outdoor historical pageants. In 1922 he became the fifth mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, known for his efforts to maintain the rustic atmosphere of Carmel's art colony by resisting infrastructure improvements and to "keep Carmel free from tourists".<ref name="Obituary"/> In 1924 became the editor and co-publisher of the ''Carmel Pine Cone''.
==Early life and career== Newberry was born on October 16, 1870, in Union City, Michigan. His parents were Frank D. Newberry (1840–1912) and Frances "Fannie" Ellsworth Stone (1848–1942). His father was a captain in US Army, serving in the American Civil War. His mother was a writer of children's literature. Newberry married Bertha {{nee}} Blair in 1892.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97759047/obituary-for-perry-newberry-aged-68/|title= Perry Newberry, Writer And Former Carmel Mayor, Dies |work=Salinas Morning Post|place=Salinas, California |date=7 Dec 1938|page=2|access-date=March 16, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Hotelling">{{cite web |url=http://pineconearchive.fileburstcdn.com/191227PCA.pdf |title=His checkered career path led from tinker and soldier to Journalist|chapter=|work=Carmel Pine Cone |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California|date=27 Dec 2019 |page=30 |access-date=2022-04-21}}</ref>
Newberry started out as a printer and real estate agent in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name="Obituary"/> In 1897, he and his wife Bertha moved to San Francisco, California, where he was a reporter and editor of several newspapers, including in the art department of the ''San Francisco Examiner,'' and the ''San Francisco Post''; he purchased the ''San Francisco Wave'' in 1901.<ref name="Hotelling"/><ref name=Tribobit>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/135960625/?match=1&terms=perry%20newberry "Former Mayor of Carmel Dies"], ''Oakland Tribune'', December 6, 1938, p. 8</ref> He then reported for and edited papers in San Jose, California,<ref name=Tribobit/> and dipped his toe into politics and law enforcement there.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/87854385/?match=1&terms=perry%20newberry "'Gooseberry' Perry Newberry is Ryan's Chief Optimist"], ''The San Francisco Call and Post'', October 9, 1907, p. 2</ref> At Frank Coppa's restaurant, known among Bohemians in San Francisco, he heard about an art colony at Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.<ref name="Obituary"/>
Newberry and his wife moved to Carmel in 1910 by stage coach.<ref name="Carmel">{{cite book|last=Wright |first=Connie|title=Stories of old Carmel: A Centennial Tribute from the Carmel Residents Association |chapter=Perry Newberry: Our One Man Band|publisher=Carmel Residents Assoc. |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California|date=2014|pages=19–20|oclc= 940565140}}</ref> He bought one of the first lots sold by Frank Devendorf and Frank Powers in 1910.<ref name="Hotelling"/> For many years, he led the efforts of the residents there to maintain the integrity and rustic atmosphere of Carmel's art colony by preventing infrastructure improvements, such as paved roads, sidewalks and streetlights.<ref name=Tribobit/>
==Forest Theater; War years== thumb|upright|left|Program for ''Alice in Wonderland'', 1912 thumb|upright|''Black Boulder Claim'' by Perry Newberry (1926) Newberry became involved with the Forest Theater Society of Carmel, acting, producing, directing and writing plays, and became president at the theater.<ref name="Edwards">{{cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=Robert W. |title=Jennie V. Cannon: The Untold History of the Carmel and Berkeley Art Colonies, Vol. 1|date=2012|publisher=East Bay Heritage Project|location=Oakland, California |isbn=9781467545679 |pages=39 |url=http://www.tfaoi.com/cm/10cm/10cm69.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://californiarevealed.org/islandora/object/cavpp%3A131660|title=Interview with James Hopper|work= Harrison Memorial Library|place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |date=1952|access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref> On July 9, 1910, Herbert Heron produced the first of the annual theatrical productions at the Forest Theater. The play was ''David,'' a biblical drama by Constance Lindsay Skinner under the direction of Garnet Holme of University of California, Berkeley. Newberry's wife, Bertha, had a role in the play.<ref name="Forest">{{cite web |url=https://californiarevealed.org/islandora/object/cavpp%3A68127 |title=Forest Theater Plays |work=Harrison Memorial Library |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |date= July 9, 1910|access-date=2022-03-15}}</ref> The show was reviewed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco papers, and it was reported that over 1,000 theatergoers attended the production.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97714205/1000-theatergoers/|title=Poet Walks With Plumber In Play |work=he San Francisco Call |place=San Francisco, California |date=10 Jul 1910|page=39|access-date=2022-03-15}}</ref> The second play was the ''Twelfth Night'', produced on July 3 and 4, 1911, at the Forest Theater. Newberry played Sir Toby Belch.<ref name="Forest"/> In July 1912, Newberry produced the play ''Alice in Wonderland'' at the Forest Theater, a dramatization of Lewis Carroll's book.<ref name="Forest"/>
Newberry supported himself as a writer, producing short stories and novels.<ref name=FresnoFair>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/607263266/?match=2&terms=perry%20newberry "Newberry Chosen to Direct Fresno Fair Play and Pageant"], ''The Fresno Morning Republican'', August 5, 1915, p. 5</ref> His other projects during these years included writing, producing and directing (and sometimes appearing in) large-scale outdoor historical play-pageants in California, including in Santa Cruz (1914) and Long Beach (1914 and 1915), and at the San Francisco Panama–Pacific International Exposition and the Fresno District Fair (with a planned cast of 2,000), both in 1915, as well as those in Carmel. His first such pageant, which he wrote, was in Carmel in 1911.<ref name=FresnoFair/>
In 1917, Newberry enlisted as a soldier during World War I and served as a YMCA secretary with the 77th division, American Expeditionary Forces. He was gassed in the war.<ref name="Pine Cone">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ccarm_002254/mode/2up?q=%22Perry+Newberry%22|title=We Lose Perry Newberry, Guardian of Old Carmel, a Friend and Counsellor|chapter=|work=Carmel Pine Cone |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California|date=9 Dec 1938|pages=1|oclc=|access-date=2022-04-21}}</ref> He developed a plan, that Monterey County endorsed, to arm and equip a military body of men for the defense of the county and coast line.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97776025/world-war-i/|title=County Council Of Defense Meets |work=The Californian|place=Salinas, California |date=3 Oct 1917|page=4|access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref>
==Mayor and editor== In the 1920s, concerned about Carmel's growth and commercialization, Newberry entered city politics. In 1922, he was elected to the Carmel board of trustees and in May of that year was chosen by the trustees as the fifth mayor of Carmel.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/27408272/?match=1&terms=perry%20newberry "Fate Makes Perry Newberry Mayor of Carmel; He Agrees, But Won't Wear a Silk Hat"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 1, 1922, p. 3</ref> He was known for his efforts to "keep Carmel free from tourists" and "keep Carmel off the Map."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97753685/perry-newberry/|title=First Poet Mayor Will Allow No Civic Boosting, No Industries, No Cement Sidewalks, No Paved Streets |work=The Modesto Bee|place=Modesto, California |date=27 Apr 1922|page=9|access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref><ref name="Hudson">{{cite book|last=Hudson |first=Monica|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aiDfTQBUJOgC&q=Newberry|title=Carmel-by-the-sea |publisher=Arcadia|place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California|date=2006|pages=64|isbn=9780738531229|access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref> He was elected as city trustee again in 1926.<ref>Lindsey, Robert. [https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/25/us/talk-carmel-clint-eastwood-runs-for-mayor-small-town-race-hangs-big-issue.html "The Talk of Carmel; As Clint Eastwood Runs for Mayor, Small-Town Race Hangs on Big Issue"], ''The New York Times'', March 25, 1986</ref>
After the war, Newberry continued to write children’s stories, short stories and mystery novels; he co-wrote five detective stories with Carmel writer Alice MacGowan in the 1920s.<ref name=Tribobit/><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/27616443/?match=2&terms=perry%20newberry "Carmel Stirred by Literary War: Plagiarism Is Charge of Author"], ''San Francisco Chronicle'', February 10, 1923, p. 17</ref> He also designed several houses in Carmel. One is called Sticks and Stones, or The Perry Newberry Cottage, a craftsman-style house built in 1937 by Maynard McEntire on the northern side of Vista Avenue to the west of Junipero Avenue.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ci.carmel.ca.us/sites/main/files/file-attachments/homes_of_famous_carmelites_0.pdf?1564762654 |title=Homes of Famous Carmelites|website=ci.carmel.ca.us |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California|date=1992|page=|access-date=2023-04-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dramov |first1=Alissandra |last2=Momboisse |first2=Lynn A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYQmDAAAQBAJ |title=Historic Homes and Inns of Carmel-by-the-Sea|publisher=Arcadia Publishing |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California|date=2016|page=26|isbn=9781467103039|access-date=2023-04-02}}</ref> A street in Carmel is named ''Perry Newberry Way''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://goo.gl/maps/FFSCc3mueR5PMogo9 |title=Perry Newberry Way|work=Google Maps |access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref>
In 1926, Newberry became the editor and co-publisher of the local weekly newspaper, the ''Carmel Pine Cone''. He was the paper's co-publisher until he sold it in 1935.<ref name="Hale">{{cite book|last= Hale |first=Sharron Lee |url=https://archive.org/details/tributetoyesterd0000hale/page/54/mode/2up?q=%22Newberry%22+%22Pine+Cone%22 |title=A Tribute to Yesterday: The History of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros |publisher=Valley Publishers |place=Santa Cruz, California |date=1980|pages=54–55|isbn=9780913548738 |access-date=2024-01-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Lindsey |first1=Robert |authorlink1=Robert Lindsey (journalist) |title=Carmel's Charm Resists the Tide of Change |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/01/travel/carmel-s-charm-resists-the-tide-of-change.html |access-date=2020-07-27 |work=The New York Times |date=July 1, 1984|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20150524145621/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/01/travel/carmel-s-charm-resists-the-tide-of-change.html |archivedate=2015-05-24 |url-status=live}}</ref> A couple of years after Bertha died, Newberry remarried Ida L. Brooks, a Berkeley public health nurse, in September 1936.<ref name=Tribobit/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97774955/ida-brooks |title= Perry Newberry to Marry Berkeley Nurse Saturday |work=Oakland Tribune|place=Oakland, California |date=9 Sep 1936|page=2|access-date=March 16, 2022}}</ref>
==Death== Newberry died on December 6, 1938, from heart failure, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, at age 68.<ref name="Obituary"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{LCAuth|nb99191656|Perry Newberry|9|}}, and [https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-nb99-191656 Newberry at WorldCat] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newberry, Perry}} Category:1870 births Category:1938 deaths Category:People from Union City, Michigan Category:Writers from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California