Virginia Glasgow Koste (1924–2010)

Virginia Glasgow Koste was born in Akron, Ohio, a daughter of two actors. She became an actress, director, professor of drama, playwright, and public speaker. In 1944, she married Victor Michalak, a professor; the couple divorced in 1962 and Virginia remarried to Walter Koste, a television and film director and producer. She graduated from Vassar College with a BA in 1945 and then earned an MA from Wayne State University in 1947; she also attended Northwestern University, Cornell University, and Indiana University at Bloomington, between 1948 and 1961. She began her academic career as an instructor in English at Duke University and became a full professor of drama, theater, and playwriting at Eastern Michigan University in 1962. She was also a guest lecturer at other institutions, including Emerson College, Oakland University, University of Michigan, and University of North Carolina. As an actress, Virginia worked with Lost Colony, Carolina Playmakers, and Kedzie Theater in Chicago. Her plays included Alice in Wonder (1978). She was also noted as the author of Dramatic Play in Childhood: Rehearsal for Life (1978). She served as a member of the advisory council for the Michigan Council for the Arts.