Austin Page

Austin Page was an alias for Seymour Obermer. Seymour Obermer (1867-1957) was an American businessman and playwright. Obermer appears to have spent most of his life in England. Under the name Austin Page, Obermer wrote four plays: 'By Pigeon Post' (1918), 'The Beating on the Door' (1922), 'A Devil in Bronze' (1929), and 'Hocus Pocus' (1932). These plays were met with varying success; 'By Pigeon Post' was a successful play and ran at the Garrick Theatre for 378 performances, and toured the country for two years. However T.S. Eliot noted in his diary that 'Hocus Pocus' was the worst play he had ever seen. Obermer Seymour was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1867. Seymour travelled to Europe in 1894, residing in various countries, but appears to have mostly resided in London. He was an importer of American automobiles, accessories and parts. Seymour Obermer wrote the plays 'The House of Bondage' (c.1909) and 'When the Clock Strikes Nine' (1917) under his own name. His first wife Amelia, with who he had a son, Edgar (b.1894/5), died in 1918 at age 48. In April 1925 he married his second wife, Nesta Sawyer (b. 1893). Nesta was a wireless programme presenter/reader, and later also became a playwright. Seymour and Nesta travelled and did a lot of charity work, most notably for the Heritage Craft Schools and Hospitals for Crippled Children, Chailey, Sussex. Obermer and Nesta moved to Hawaii in 1948. Obermer Seymour died in Honolulu, Hawaii in February 1957 at the age of 90.