Poet Laureate Was Man of Many Missions

Virtually no mission was impossible for longtime Verdugo Hills resident John Steven McGroarty--playwright, columnist, lawyer, congressman and poet laureate of California.

In fact, McGroarty loved missions.

McGroarty crusaded for the restoration of early California landmarks in the early part of this century, especially the missions that once distinguished this state’s landscape.

Born in 1862 in Pennsylvania, McGroarty became that state’s youngest justice of the peace at 21 and, at 28, the youngest treasurer of Luzerne County. He became a lawyer in 1894 and two years later moved to Los Angeles.

The death of a German munitions manufacturer inspired McGroarty to write a poem that was published in The Times and led to a long connection with this newspaper. McGroarty wrote a column for The Times, titled “From the Green Verdugo Hills,” where he lived for many years on a small hacienda, Rancho Chupa Rosa near Tujunga. The city of Los Angeles bought the property, located at 7570 McGroarty Terrace, in 1953 to house culture and craft classes.

With the publication of “The Mission Play” in 1911, McGroarty also became a popular playwright. He took a leave from The Times to write the drama of Father Junipero Serra and the rise and fall of the California missions. The play opened in San Gabriel, April 29, 1912, in a rickety playhouse that passing trains rattled violently. The noise of the nearby locomotives was so great that actors had to hold their lines until the engines passed. Eventually, an estimated 2.5 million people saw the play during a 3,200-performance run.

McGroarty wrote other dramas, “La Golondrina,” “Osceola” and “Babylon,” as well as several histories and novels, including “Poets and Poetry in Wyoming Valley,” “Just California” and “Wander Songs.” The state Legislature named McGroarty poet laureate of California in 1933.

A Democrat, McGroarty was elected to Congress in 1934 and served two terms. Initially a strong supporter of the New Deal, McGroarty left office in 1938 an opponent of Roosevelt’s policies.

McGroarty died at the age of 81 on Aug. 7, 1944.