Living large

"Living Large is by turns a rollicking dual biography and a sweet love story. Wilna Hervey won the role of 'The Powerful Katrinka' in the Toonerville Trolley comedies of the early nineteen-twenties through her impressive size. Wilna's movie work brought her something else that would long endure--a partner for life. While filming on location in the Philadelphia suburbs, Wilna Hervey met Nan Mason, the surprisingly tall daughter of her Toonerville co-star, Dan Mason. Wilna and Nan became close friends and ultimately life partners. They discovered that they had a mutual passion for art. So when Wilna's cinema work began to wane, she and Nan decided to pursue careers as artists in the famed artists' colony at Woodstock, New York. As artists, Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason evolved into accomplished and imaginative talents, exploring a wide variety of genres over the course of their long careers. As a same-sex couple, living in one of the few American communities where they could comfortably be themselves, the 'Big Girls,' as they were known locally, carved out extraordinarily creative lives for themselves."--