Mary O’Hara

Mary O’Hara was an American author and screenwriter. O’Hara worked as a Hollywood screenwriter during the silent film era. Her screenwriting credits included the movies The Last Card (1921), The Prisoner of Zenda (1922), Braveheart (1925), and Framed (1927). After moving to Laramie with her husband, she began writing Wyoming ranch stories. Her best-known and loved works were written at this time: My Friend Flicka (1941), Thunderhead (1943), and Green Grass of Wyoming (1946). Mary O’Hara was also an accomplished pianist and composer. She composed a folk musical, The Catch Colt, which was performed in 1961 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and at the Lincoln Theatre in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The musical was published in 1964. Two years later, O’Hara published her account of writing, composing, and producing the musical, A Musical in the Making. Her other piano compositions included “Esperan” (1943), “Green Grass of Wyoming” (1946), “May God Keep You” (1946), and “Wind Harp” (1954).