SCHWARTZ, Paula 1925-2003 (Elizabeth Mansfield, Paula Reibel)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born March 13, 1925, in New York, NY; died of ovarian cancer, December 21, 2003, in Annandale, VA. Educator and author. Schwartz was best known as the prolific author of Regency romances under the pen name Elizabeth Mansfield. A graduate of what is now Hunter College of the City University of New York, where she received a B.A. in 1945, she earned a master's degree in 1950 from City College. Her teaching career began in New York City, where she taught high school English and drama from 1947 to 1965. After a short period of teaching at George Washington University, Schwartz joined the Dunbarton College faculty in Washington, DC, as a professor of English in 1967. When Dunbarton closed its doors in 1973, she taught for awhile at Northern Virginia Community College, but by this time Schwartz was beginning what would become a successful writing career. Starting with plays such as Parcel Pick-Up (1974) and Afterwords (1977), her literary career really took off when she began writing Regency romance novels under the name Elizabeth Mansfield. The first of these was Unexpected Holiday (1978). Dozens of other novels followed, including The Fifth Kiss (1981), Love Lessons (1983), An Accidental Romance (1988), Christmas Treasure (1992), Miscalculations (2000), Girl with the Persian Shawl (2002), and her final book, An Encounter with Venus (2003). Schwartz also published a novel under the pen name Paula Reibel titled A Morning Moon (1984). Continuing an interest in the theater throughout her life, Schwartz directed theater groups at the Temple Beth-El in Alexandria, Virginia, and enjoyed writing musicals, comedies, and children's plays.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Washington Post, December 25, 2003, p. B8.