Barbara Massey
One of the most prolific writers and artists in American history, Barbara Massey is famous for her book series, “The Deep Blue”, “The Dorothy Do Show,” and, “The Dorothy Do Movie.”
From her childhood, Barbara had always loved writing, having written short stories to entertain her family and friends. However, she would only take writing seriously as a pursuit after reading the works of R.W Winfield, prolific author of the Meadowvalley series, and being awestruck by his stories of peril and fantasy filled with fantastical critters. For much of her early years, Barbara would pour over the works of Winfield and listed him as the inspiration for her foray into fantasy literature, however later in her life Barbara would disavow him.
Much of the early literature created by Barbara is unavailable to the public; however, Barbara has gone on record stating that she began her writing career by writing stories for a variety of beauty magazines underneath a pen name. It was here that Barbara honed her skills and learned what it took to hook a reader for a story. She described the work she did during this time as being mostly fantasy fiction, which audiences seemed to enjoy as she kept getting work.
Eventually, however, Barbara got bored of writing what she described as “very similar stories with the same beats and characters” She had never forgotten her childhood readings of Winfields work and desired to write a novel of her own that paid homage to the types of stories written by Winfield. At this point in time, Barbara was also a very well traveled woman, and it was during these travels that she had formed a special fixation on the ocean, sailors, and tales of ocean farers. These two influences meshed together to inspire her idea for the Deep Blue.
Barbara would travel frequently while writing the Deep Blue, often taking the train, and it was during her excursions into the city that she would begin a friendship with Patty Greenbail and Mathew Polluck, two puppeteers that would become very critical figures later on in Barbara’s life. Barbara would write home frequently to her family during this time, and when she was home she would write frequently to the people she met during her travels.
In the early fifties, Barbara would release the first of many novels in the Deep Blue series with the help of publishing company AnxelHouse who saw potential in her work. It had a small, limited run but very quickly sold out, and before long the book was being sold all across the United States, with demands for a sequel from both publishers and audiences. A demand that Barbara very happily complied with. There would be several more books in the series before Barbara was approached by Echo Broadcasting with the proposal of adapting her series for television. The deal they arranged with her was very unusual in the amount of creative control it gave her.
Although proposed to be an animated series at first, Barbara pushed back against the idea and instead contacted her friends Patty Greenbail and Mathew Polluck, now lead puppeteers at Silverstein Stitching, a puppet company. Through them she spoke with head of the company Boris Hassler and a deal was struck to put together a team that would eventually become known as the Deep Blue team.
The Deep Blue team would go on to begin production for Dorothy Do and the Deep Blue- a puppet show that would go on to rock the world. From the beginning, Barbara had a concrete idea of how she wanted the tv show to be executed: a series of loosely connected stories revolving around Dorothy's adventures through the deep blue sea. And with the help of expert puppeteers, experienced musicians, amazing artists, and charismatic actors, the show began its first season at the tail end of the fifties.
Barbara helped to assist in puppeteering and some voice work for the show, but mainly sat at the helm of writing for the story with the very strict expectation that she was the only one allowed to write dialogue for Dorothy. It should be noted that this is common with creators. Dorothy had a very intense connection with Dorothy Do, and this was reflected in the show as Dorothy having a fireside chat with Barbara at the end of each episode, discussing what he had learned with her. Overtime, Barbara did gain a talent for puppeteering and would occasionally assist in the operation of the Dorothy puppet.
Barbara was a notably interesting person to work with, as attested by multiple accounts from over the years. She had a habit of getting what she wanted through cleverness and stubbornness in equal measure, and had no time for pencil pushers or corporate meddling. When she had an issue with the people upstairs, she would march up to their office and return soon after with nothing to say on the matter except, “We came to an agreement.” Besides this, Barbara was a very warm and comforting personality to be around according to friends, and someone who always took the wheel of the ship and knew where to steer it. An enthusiastic creator who would make time to speak to anybody who wanted to talk about art.
The Dorothy Do show would go on for three more seasons before having to go on a brief hiatus. In the early sixties, Barbara got embroiled in public controversy with accusations being made towards her of being a communist. Notably this occurred during the tail end of the red scare, an event that permanently affected the livelihoods of several artists and individuals. Barbara had been very publicly outspoken against the blacklisting of creatives and as such found herself in the crossfire. Despite the personal and professional danger such beliefs put her in, she stood her ground all the way to the end of the craze, at which point she was offered an apology from the soon to be disbanded committee. It was an apology Barbara did not publicly accept, going so far as to mock it on television.
The Dorothy Do show would continue to air soon after, with future seasons being ordered by the network, and in the meantime Barbara had been taking the time to write short stories inspired by the show. These stories focused on the places and characters puppet Dorothy had met, and were meant to enhance the audience's appreciation of Dorothy’s world. She also established the Dorothy Do fanclub, fan letter program, and went before Congress with Dorothy to advocate for improved education.
After season six of the show, Barbara would be approached by Copperbell Productions with the offer of an animated Dorothy Do movie. Historically, this was a highly well regarded movie and the production would take its own page to describe. Barbara was recorded as having enjoyed the film, yet also stated that it had been a very draining experience for her, which perhaps may be why she decided that season seven of the Dorothy Do show would be the end of the saga.
After concluding the Dorothy Do show, Barbara would move to North Carolina to be close to the beach of her childhood. She kept in regular touch with friends, family, and other creatives, but notably lessened her communication with fans over the course of her retirement. Years later, Barbara would pass away peacefully surrounded by family in her home.