Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 - June 30, 1984) was an American playwright and left-wing activist, romantically involved for thirty years with pulp writer Dashiell Hammett. She was also a long-time friend of poet Dorothy Parker.
Her feud with fellow writer Mary McCarthy went on in public
for years, and formed the basis for the play Imaginary Friends
by Nora Ephron.
Quote
Lillian Hellman appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. Asked to name names of acquaintances with communist affiliations, Hellman instead read a prepared statement containing the following quote:
"To hurt innocent people whom I knew many years ago in order to save myself is, to me, inhuman and indecent and dishonorable. I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions, even though I long ago came to the conclusion that I was not a political person and could have no comfortable place in any political group."
List of works
