The daytime community is mourning the passing of accomplished soap writer and director Mary Ryan Munisteri, who passed away peacefully at her home in Brooklyn, NY, on January 29 at the age of 82.
A graduate of Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University) in Washington, DC, Munisteri earned an MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) from Yale University before she decided to join her good friend, Claire Labine -- co-creator of Ryan's Hope -- in the soap industry. Labine brought Munisteri on board at Ryan's Hope as an associate head writer in 1975, and Munisteri eventually moved up to head writer in 1982. The pair's friendship was honored on-screen with Labine naming the soap's lead character, Mary Ryan (played by Kate Mulgrew), after her dear friend.
Following her tenure at Ryan's Hope, Munisteri went on to head write for Guiding Light in 1986 and for Loving in 1991. She also had various writing stints on General Hospital and As the World Turns, as well as a run on the 1990 after-school soap opera Tribes.
In addition to writing, Munisteri was an avid director who brought her talents behind the scenes at One Life to Live from 2001 to 2012 and at GH in 2012. She also did some editing at OLTL from 2003 to 2007, and she was credited as a producer at Another World in 1995.
Following Munisteri's passing, several of her colleagues paid tribute on social media.
"On my first stint writing for General Hospital in the late 90s, I was extremely lucky to be on the breakdown team with Mary Ryan," shared GH writer Dave Rupel. "Mary was incredibly smart, wickedly funny and just an all around terrific woman. How fortunate was I to have learned from one of the very best. This one breaks my heart. My condolences to Mary's surviving family."
"I had the honor and privilege to work with, to know and to love Mary Ryan Ministeri," shared Wendy Riche, former executive producer of GH. "RIP and #SafeJourney dear Mary Ryan Ministeri. Thank you for your talent, for your love and laughter! We had good times together."
"So sorry to hear this," shared Michele Val Jean, a writer for The Bold and the Beautiful, whose credits also include GH and Santa Barbara. "We worked together on #GH. RIP, Mary. Give my love to Claire."
"How I looked forward to every day I got to be in a room with the blazingly smart, creative Mary Ryan," tweeted actress and soap writer Courtney Simon (ex-Dr. Lynn Michaels, ATWT; ex-Dr. Anna Tolan, All My Children; ex-D.A. June Reiner, Another World; ex-Dr. Constance Peterson, The City). "Who could not be captivated by her wry wit and backbone of steel. It was a sincere privilege to collaborate with her."
Munisteri won multiple Daytime Emmy Awards over the course of her career. She took home the trophy in the Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series award in 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, and 1984 for her work on Ryan's Hope; in 1999 for her work on GH; and in 2002 and 2004 for her work on ATWT. In 2007, she won the Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing for a Drama Series award for her work on OLTL, and in 2008, 2009, and 2014, she took home the Outstanding Drama Series Directing Team trophy for her work on OLTL. She also won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming in 1981 for her writing work on Mandy's Grandmother, which was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film.
Munisteri is survived by her children Matt, Ben, and Adele, as well as two grandchildren, Arlo and Calla Gleich. According to her obituary in the New York Times, her family will announce plans for a memorial service in the future.
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