Ida Cook (1904-1986), writing as Mary Burchell, authored more than 120 books over the course of five decades. A lifelong devotee of opera, she counted Amelita Galli-Curci, Rosa Ponselle and Maria Callas among her close friends. In 1965, together with her sister Louise, she was awarded the honor or Righteous Among Nations from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Authority in Jerusalem.