| Creator | Hornik-Beer, Edith Lynn |
| Title | Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer Papers |
| Dates | 1964-2021 (bulk) |
| Identification | MS 1 |
| Quantity | 18 linear feet (19 letter-size document boxes, 4 legal-size document boxes, 3 flat boxes, 2 letter-size photo boxes) |
| Collection Abstract | The collection consists of materials relating to the personal life and career of the author. They date from 1939 to 2011, with the bulk of materials coming from the 1960s-1980s. They include materials from Hornik-Beer's early life and schooling, her works as a freelance writer and book author, her court battles with Swiss banks and her brother (Emanuel/Manuel "Mani" Beer), and her work as a lecturer and instructor. Materials include correspondence, research materials, drafts, writings, photos, slides, scrapbooks, court proceedings, and course materials. |
| Historical Abstract | Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer, a free-lance author, was born in Zurich, Switzerland on November 4, 1930, daughter of Simon and Rosa Beer. She attended Simmons College Prince School of Retailing and received her Bachelor of Science in 1953. In 1954, she studied French literature at the graduate level at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. She married Josef Hornik, a machine tool engineer, in 1958 and had two children. Hornik-Beer's writing included travel, cooking, alcoholism, teenagers, and articles about local events and people. She has written many articles for local newspapers and magazines as well as for national magazines such as McCall's and Young Miss. Several articles have appeared in German and Swiss Publications. |
| Language | Material primarily in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the University Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer Papers, MS001, Simmons University Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Donated by Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer between 1978 and 2011.
Accession number: 78.156; 79.016; 79.030; 81.119; 82.001; 84.038; 85.034; 86.024; 89.001; 2000.125; 2003.044; 2006.056; 2012.004
Processed by Laurie Rotman, October 1978
Supervised by Megan G. Sniffin-Marinoff and Jason Arthur Wood, 1986, 1989, 2000, 2003, 2011
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Aliza Allen Leventhal, July 2013, and Justin Snow, 2014.
Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer, a free-lance author, was born in Zurich, Switzerland on November 4, 1930, daughter of Simon and Rosa Beer. She attended Simmons College Prince School of Retailing and received her B.S. in 1953. In 1954, she studied French literature at the graduate level at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. She married Josef Hornik, a machine tool engineer, in 1958 and has two children.
Topics of Hornik-Beer's writing have included travel, cooking, alcoholism, teenagers, and articles about local events and people. She has written many articles for local newspapers and magazines as well as for national magazines such as McCall's and Young Miss. Several articles have appeared in German and Swiss publications.
Between 1964 and 1967, Hornik-Beer wrote a weekly column entitled "Young World" which appeared in three New York area newspapers - Scarsdale Inquirer, Riverside Press, and Mt. Kisco Patent Trader. This column dealt with issues of concern to teenagers including career development, choice of colleges, travel, and alcohol.
While writing this column, Hornik-Beer became interested in the problem of teenagers with alcoholic parents and in 1974, Association Press published her first book, You and Your Alcoholic Parent. The Public Affairs Committee put out an abridged version of this book as one of their pamphlets, and in 1984 an updated abridged version of this book was printed under the title A Teenager's Guide to Living with an Alcoholic Parent. Her second book, The Drinking Woman, was published by Association Press in 1978, followed by her third book, Monarch's Dictionary of Investment Terms, in 1983.
Hornik-Beer's career has also included lectures on literature and creative writing and appearances on several radio and TV programs. She had been a member of Authors Guild of America since 1974.
Following the death of their parents in the mid-1960s, Hornik-Beer became involved in a decades-long series of court battles among her brother, Emanuel/Manuel "Mani" Beer, several Swiss banks, and herself. The disputes were between Hornik-Beer and her brother concerning the Beer Estate, particularly bank account holdings.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Collection is arranged into 6 series, which are arranged chronologically:
This series consists of materials from Hornik-Beer's childhood and school years, including grade school, high school (Woodmere Academy), prep school, college (Simmons), and continuing education. It includes story books written and illustrated by Hornik-Beer as a child, as well as papers written for school, some of which are graded. Also included in this series are four scrapbooks from Edith's early life, chronicling her time at summer camp, dances she attended during prep and high school, and her time at Simmons College. Also included is a scrapbook of newspaper clippings from World War II. Continuing education materials include those from Université de Lausanne (in Switzerland) as well as a Harvard summer writing course. Photos separated from this series include travel photos as well as some from the Simmons Outing Club.
This series is arranged chronologically.
Hornik-Beer's Simmons scrapbook was digitized in the fall of 2011 and made into a digital library. It can be accessed at http://slis.simmons.edu/edith/.
Box 1
Edith's Life
This series consists of materials related to the writings of Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer, including her work as a freelance writer, columnist, and book author. It includes research materials, drafts, published articles, and correspondence. Publications from which these articles were clipped include The New York Times, Newsday, and The Hartford Courant, among others. Topics of these articles primarily are related to travel, cooking, theater reviews, alcoholism, and teens. A significant portion of this series consists of research materials from Hornik-Beer's travels around the world, from which many of her articles were written. Travel materials include notes, guidebooks, brochures, and other ephemera. Research materials and drafts elated to three of Hornik-Beer's books are included, as are copies of all three books: You and Your Alcoholic Parent (later abridged and updated as A Teenager's Guide to Living with an Alcoholic Parent), The Drinking Woman, and Monarch's Dictionary of Investment Terms. This series also includes extensive notes on and drafts of Hornik-Beer's autobiography. Additionally, this series includes an intensive journal kept by Hornik-Beer in 1983 as part of a personal growth and creativity program sponsored by Dialogue House Associates. Indexes are attached for research materials concerning high school dropouts (Index 1) as well as women and alcoholism (Index 2).
This series is arranged chronologically.
Language note: A very limited number of writing materials are in languages other than English. These are noted in the attached container list.
This series consists of materials related to legal disputes among Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer, her brother Emanuel/Manuel "Mani" Beer, and several Swiss banks. These disputes began after the death of Edith and Manuel's parents (Simon and Rosa Beer) in the mid-1960s and continued through the 1990s. The litigation centered on disagreements about the Beer estate, particularly bank account holdings. Rosa Beer passed first and all of her assets were immediately transferred to her husband's account. Simon bequeathed his accounts to both his children, but a dispute arose over whether Hornik-Beer was entitled to the assets because she was a woman.
Materials herein contained include proceedings from pertinent cases, correspondence, and research materials. Cases represented are Cases 459/1967, 568/7, 283/1972, 395 K/76, 261 K/77, 262 K/77, 4/78, 8/78, and 107/78/st. Proceedings from Case 283/72 make up a significant portion of this series. Lawyers represented Guido von Castelberg (Manuel Beer's attorney), Hans Sträuli and Peter Herold (both attorneys for Hornik-Beer). Swiss banks principally involved included Union Bank of Switzerland and Bank Julius Bär. This series also includes research Hornik-Beer did on the case and the Swiss justice system in general which led to several articles and a proposed book. Select significant cases are summaried in Index 4 (attached).
This series is arranged into three subseries: Court papers, Correspondence (arranged alphabetically by correspondent; separate subject correspondence is arranged chronologically), and Research.
This series consists of correspondence relating mostly to Hornik-Beer's writing career. Correspondents include agents, publishing companies, and professional organizations, among others. Correspondence is generally professional in nature, with a limited amount of personal letters.
This series is arranged chronologically.
This series consists of materials relating to Hornik-Beer's lectures, appearances, and courses taught, including full-semester classes and workshops.These materials include syllabi, press releases, lecture notes, resources for students, bibliographies, teaching tools, handouts, and other course materials. A significant number of the lecture notes are on index cards and it is unclear to which course(s) these correspond. Materials relating to students include correspondence, student writings, and biographical information about and coursework of diplomat Angier Biddle Duke, who was once a student of Hornik-Beer.
This series is divided into subseries: Courses & Workshops (arranged alphabetically by institution where they were taught) and Students.
Access to the Woodfield Detention Cottage - Student work folder is contingent upon approval of University Archivist.
This series consists of reference to Hornik-Beer in the press and books. It includes press releases, reviews of her books, and newspaper articles and a book referencing her work.
This series is arranged chronologically.
