Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959), an American playwright noted for his verse dramas, tried to show men living by their beliefs even in a world where evil tends to dominate.

Maxwell Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pa., on Dec. 15, 1888. Since his father, William, was a Baptist clergyman who changed parsonages frequently, Anderson attended 13 schools in states from Pennsylvania to North Dakota. In 1911 he graduated from the University of North Dakota and married Margaret Haskett. He taught at Stanford University while earning his master's degree and held positions with the Call-Bulletin and the Chronicle in San Francisco. In New York from 1918 on, he contributed to the New Republic, worked on the Evening Globe and the World, and helped found a poetry magazine, The Measure.

The production of White Desert (1923) started Anderson's writing career on the New York stage. Of his eight plays produced prior to 1930, four were written in collaboration and...