Laurence Vail served during 1918 in the American army as an officer assigned to the Corps of Interpreters. He met heiress Peggy Guggenheim in Manhattan in 1921 and married her the next year in Paris. They had two children, quarreled, gave marathon parties, and separated in 1929. In December 1928, Vail had met Kay Boyle at the Coupole, and soon a relationship developed which lasted until 1941. This marriage produced three children and the short story collection 365 Days , coedited and coauthored by Kay Boyle, Vail, and Nina Conarain. Boyle credits Vail with being one of the most important influences on her development as a writer: he encouraged her in the cross-country skiing and mountain climbing which were to figure in several of her novels, and he introduced her to many American and French writers. During the war years in Connecticut and New York, Vail was heartsick for Europe; he crossed the Atlantic again after the war, to spend the rest of his life mainly in France.
Vail's creative life was extremely varied.
