Herbert Heron (writer)

Herbert "Bert" Heron (October 26, 1883 – January 7, 1968) was an American writer, actor, and poet. Heron is best known for founding the Forest Theater in 1910. He was the former mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, for two terms in the 1920s. He lived in Carmel for 62 years.

Early life
Heron was born, as Herbert Heron Peet, on September 9, 1868, in Englewood, New Jersey. His parents were Gilead Smith Peet (1847-1885) and Jeannie Spring (1843-1921). He came from a background of writers and dramatists. On July 17, 1911, he changed his name to Herbert Heron in Superior Court because he wrote and was known under that name.

Heron grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Harvard Military School in 1901. he attended Stanford University but left to go on the stage. He joined the Belasco Stock Company, the Crawley-Meatayer Company, and the Morosco Stock Company in southern California. This experience taught him how to work on the stage and be a Shakespearean actor.

Career


In 1908, Heron, his wife and daughter, came to the art colony at Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, where he built a home and was among the earliest writers.

In 1910, Heron approached James Franklin Devendorf, co-founder of the Carmel Development Company, to purchase a lot for an outdoor theater. By February 1910, construction began on what would be called the Forest Theater with a platform stage and wooded benches. Devendorf paid the expenses knowing it would be good for Carmel. There was no electricity at the theater, so Heron used calcium floodlights that were brought by covered wagon from Monterey to light the stage.



Heron put on the first of the annual theatrical productions at the Forest Theater on July 9, 1910. The play was David, a biblical drama by Constance Lindsay Skinner under the direction of Garnet Holme of UC Berkeley. Heron was in the title role as David and writer Alice MacGowan as Astar. The play was reviewed in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, and was reported that over 1,000 theatergoers attended the production. The second play was the Twelfth Night, on July 3 and 4, 1911. Heron played the character Feste. He was part of the cultural circle that included Jack London, George Sterling, James Hopper, and Mary Hunter Austin, Alice MacGowan, and Sinclair Lewis. In 1911, Heron directed the play The Land of Heart's Desire at the Forest Theater. It was a play written by playwright W. B. Yeats.



In 1918, Heron opened the first Seven Arts bookstore, selling books, art materials, poetry, and antiques near the Forest Theater. He chose the name "Seven Arts," because it included the seven words: music, dancing, literature, painting, sculpture, and architecture. In 1923, Heron commissioned Michael J. Murphy to build the Seven Arts Shop for him and in partnership with Helena Conger at a new located on Ocean Avenue and Monte Verde Street, next to Edward G. Kuster's Carmel Weavers Studio. In 1925, the Seven Arts store moved again when Heron hired architect Albert B. Coats and builder Percy Parkes to build the Tudor Revival style building called the Seven Arts Building, located on Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Street.

In the late 1920s, Heron, concerned about Carmel being commercialized, he entered city politics. He was elected to city council and served twice as mayor of Carmel. He was on Carmel's first planning commission.

In 1960, Heron finished his 50th year with the Forest Theater with his play, Pharaoh. By 1963, the theater had shown over 140 plays.

Personal life
Heron married Sara Opal Piontkowski Heron Search in 1905, the daughter of a Polish Count. In 1916, Heron left Carmel with his wife and children for Los Angeles to be a director of the Little Theatre at the request of producer Aline Barnsdall. Following his return to Carmel, he and his wife separated, eventually leading to their divorce. In 1924, Heron married Helena Conger.

Death
Heron died on January 7, 1968, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, at age 84. Funeral services were public and held in the Little Chapel By the Sea in Pacific Grove, California.