on poetry, 118, 597, 653
on political candidate endorsement, 329
pseudonyms of, 640
public relations job, 28–29, 36
public speaking and, 8, 382, 578
Punch offer, 320–321
on racism, 301–302
as reader, 6, 314–315, 319, 538–539, 623, 680
on readers’ responses, 367
recording of Charlotte, 550, 550n., 555, 557
romances, 21, 33–36, 66–68, 70
Ross’s relationship with, 317, 319
on royalties, 188, 189, 407, 423, 476, 601
sailing, Astrid, 115–117, 131–136, 148–150; Fern, 392, 392n., 642; Martha, 504–505, 529–530, 558
Saturday Review offer, 124–126, 183
on school prayer, 495
Seattle Times job, 59–61
self-description, 290, 372
summer jobs, 14, 16, 20–23
television and, 483, 490–491, 495–496
on testimonial advertising, 136–140
Thurber influenced by, 442–443
trip to Alaska (1923), 63–64, 343, 435, 436
trip to England (1955), 370, 374–376
trip to Europe (1926), 73–74
trip to Europe (1928), 77
trip West (1922), 30–64, 311–313, 462
U.N. accreditation for, 258–259
United Press job, 24–26, 463
on war, 180–181, 208, 222, 234–235
White, E. B. (cont’d)
on world federalism, in Comments, 209, 248, 513; in Letter from the West, 432–433; pacificism and, 527; in PofC, 480–481; in Wild Flag, 300–301, 327–329, 445, 446
on writers (modern), 501–502
on writing, of books, 519–520, 521, 607; of Comments, 202–203; environment for, 354–355; as imposture, 470, 531; as livelihood, 266–267, 286; objectivity in, 305; topics for, 82, 469; as vocation, 263–264, 306–307, 358, 366, 398, 463, 600, 677
writing style of, 142, 371, 372, 446, 467
White, Frances, 6
White, Henry, 569
WHITE, J. STEVEN (STEVE), in childhood, 353, 370, 389, 404; as boatbuilder, 669, as EBW heir, 447; in Germany, 376, 386; at North Brooklin farm, 433; sailing, 429, 531; at school, 422, 579. Letters: 475–476, 490
WHITE, JANICE H., 6, 241, 253. Letters: 327–329, 420–421, 623–624
WHITE, JESSIE HART, background of, 2, 3, 4; book dedication, 460; final illness of, 126–128, 155; gravestone for, 144; move to Washington, D.C., 118–119; summer vacations and, 9. Letters: from Cornell, 19; from East Aurora, New York, 31–33; from S.S. Buford, 63–64; on trip West, 38–45, 46–54, 55–59
WHITE, JOEL MCCOUN (JOE), in Army, 309, 334, 370, 374, 376, 386–387; at Belgrade Lakes, 205; birth of, 89–90, 97, 99–100; at Blue Hill cottage, 99, 158, 159, 226; boats and, 141, 317, 391, 391n., 392, 429, 505n., 558, 669; in childhood, 109, 120, 153, 194, 201; EBW’s final illness and, 684–685; as infant, 103–104, 105, 106; jobs held by, 272, 272n., 283, 284, 354, 354n., 391, 391n., 392, 422, 428–429, 463; at KSW’s death, 616; marriage, 342–343; at North Brooklin farm, 132–135, 156–157, 190, 197–198, 207, 224, 225, 227, 241; post-Army residence, 389; sailing trips, 531, 535, 535n., 536, 538, 542; schooling, 171, 223, 232, 237–238, 247, 266, 280, 300, 316, 317; sinus condition, 216, 216n., 218. Letters: 192–193, 483
White, John Shepley, 424, 429, 447, 531, 623
WHITE, KATHARINE S., background, 80–81; as baseball fan, 409, 452, 587; Bermuda trip, 161–162; Brooklin Library and, 363; correspondence with Updike, 635, 636; death of, 616–617, 619–620, 621, 647; as driver, 108; EBW archives and, 477; EBW’s first meeting with, 70; EBW’s year off and, 158–159; as editor, 234, 264n., 358, 409, 415, 576; estate of, 617–618; father’s death, 161; health problems, 99, 331–332, 356, 357, 363, 422, 425, 433, 454, 457, 461, 462, 463, 505, 525, 527, 528, 533, 541, 547–548, 556, 610, 655; as housewife, 156; on Is Sex Necessary?, 344; love of dachshunds, 133n.; marriage to EBW, 80–81, 87, 88, 98, 610–611, 663, 671; miscarriage, 120, 122; move to North Brooklin farm, 141, 164, 167, 174, 368, 410; at New Yorker, 71–72, 99, 141, 182n., 208, 225, 236, 253, 257, 272, 298, 368, 399, 410, 428, 588; pregnancy, 89–90, 99–100; in retirement, 432; as smoker, 537; on Stuart, 252, 253; surgery, 226, 232, 284, 425, 488; toothbrush incident, 144; trip to England (1955), 370, 374–375. Memos: 87, 96, 109, 183, 238, 301, 337. Letters: during Astrid sail, 116, 117; from Belgrade Lakes, 205–206; from Blue Hill, 157, 165; from Camp Otter, 84–86, 90–95; as Daisy the dog, 89–90; on Earl Firth house, 364; on EBW’s mother’s illness, 126–127; during EBW’s year off, 145–148, 150–154; during first Maine summer, 100–105; on Four Freedoms pamphlet, 211–216; on grandchild Steve, 353–354; “Natural History” poem, 88–89; from New York, 120–122, 204–205, 216–217, 276–277, 281, 484; from North Brooklin, 132–136, 196–198, 200–201, 223–224, 389–390, 391–393, 404; on North Brooklin farm improvements, 113–114;from South Carolina, 111–112
White, Lee A., 410
White, Lillian. See Illian, Lillian White
White, Marion Robertson. See
Brittingham, Marion Robertson White
WHITE, MARTHA, birth of, 370; as EBW heir, 447; in Germany, 376; at Mt. Holyoke College, 608; in North Brooklin, 404, 421, 434, 475, 531, 608; sailing, 429. Letters: from Florida, 522–523; on graduation, 599; on jogging piece, 608–609; on schooling, 579–580, 602–603
WHITE, MILDRED BIGNEY, 6, 237. Letter: 225–226
WHITE, SAMUEL TILLY, background, 2–3, 650; centennial of, 355; death of, 118, 128; summer vacations and, 8–9. Letters: 31–33, 46–54, 55–59
WHITE, STANLEY HART (BUNNY), Botanical Bricks idea, 151, 177; in childhood, 3, 4, 5–6, 8, 9, 623–624; illness of, 237n.; as landscape architect, 12n., 14, 59, 83n., 623; as redhead, 360; retirement of, 420. Letters: from Belgrade Lakes, 129–130; about Belgrade Lakes trips, 420; on Christmas gifts, 418–419; on father’s centennial, 355–356; on KSW, 264–265; about mother, 118–119, 123; on mother’s death, 127–128; at New Year’s 1949, 280; from New York, 143–144, 237–238, 239, 249, 272, 300, 337–338, 370, 386, 461–462; from North Brooklin, 184–185, 224–225, 239–241, 242–243, 245–247, 252–253, 259–260, 283; from Seattle, 60–61; on Stanley’s illness, 364–365; from teenage EBW, 12–16; with traction drawing, 390–391; on writing, 82–83, 263–264, 266–267
WHITE, STEPHEN, 495. Letters: 495–496, 669–670
Whitman, Walt, 521
Whittaker, Rogers, 71
Whlye, Max, 195
WIGGINS, JAMES RUSSELL, 517–518, 531. Letter: 544–545
Wilbur (pig), 343–344
Wilder, Ray, 165, 165n.
Wilder, Thornton, 440
The Wild Flag, ideas behind, 682; publication of, 209, 260, 366; response to, 301; world federalism and, 327, 445
WILEY, SHIRLEY. Letter: 358
WILLIAMS, BEN AMES. Letter: 273
WILLIAMS, GARTH, Charlotte illustrations, 324, 325, 327, 329, 330, 440; EBW archive and, 509; Stuart illustrations, 250; Trumpet and, 533, 540. Letter: 540–541
WILLIAMS, GLUYAS, 98, 166n., 326. Letters: on Fellow Citizens, 200; on Maine move, 166–167; from North Brooklin, 171–172, 564–565; on Pulitzer Prize, 621
WILLIAMSON, JOAN, 618. Letter: 619
WILSON, CARRIE A. Letter: 306
Wilson, Edmund (Bunny), 573–574
WILSON, JON. Letter: 669
Wilson, Woodrow, 4
Winnie (Summit Avenue domestic help), 11, 11n.
WIRTH, DOROTHY, 384. Letter: 384
WOLF, J. WILBUR, 343. Letter: 343–344
Wolfe, Thomas, 502
Wolfe, Tom, 481–482
Wolfers, Arnold, 512, 512n.
Women, as readers, 37; weddings and, 259
Woodcock, 230
WoodenBoat magazine, 671
WOOLLCOTT, ALEXANDER, biography of, 572, 572n., 575–576; on EBW’s disposition, 173; personality of, 300; Shouts and Murmurs,
98; on testimonial advertising, 136; work of, 502. Letters: on radio ad, 114; on Seagram’s endorsement, 136–140
Word usage, “afresh,” 249–250; “dress up/down,” 422; “flammable,” 570; “hopefully,” 544, 571; “oeuvre,” 581; “one,” 460–461; “parameter,” 658–659; “respectable,” 287; “that,” 417–418, 676n.; “which,” 288, 676n.; “yellow jaundice,” 403
World federalism, as answer to war, 248, 300; as inevitable, 446; New Yorker Comments on, 209, 513; peace and, 527; Soviet Union and, 327–329; U.N. and, 480–481; weapons testing and, 432–433; Wild Flag and, 445
World’s Fair (New York, 1939), 185, 210
“The World of Tomorrow,” 185n.
World War I, 18, 208, 355
World War II, Army exams, 222; Aunt Poo during, 181, 181n., 527; EBW’s views on, 207, 208, 209; farm life and, 142; food rationing, 226–227; Four Freedoms pamphlet and, 211; gas rationing, 231, 242, 253; New Yorker position on, 203, 204; security issues, 225, 225n.
WRIGHT, JAMES A. (JIM), 94, 94n. Letters: 95–96, 553–554
Writers, aging and, 578; lives of, 372; modern, 501–502, 521; nature of, 266–267, 306–307; objectivity of, 305; vs. editors, 358
Writing, of biography, 677; of book blurbs, 272–273; of books, 519–520, 521, 607; for children, 182, 324; of criticism, 106, 144; in English, 419n.; environment for, 354–355; of essays, 228; as imposture, 470, 531; as livelihood, 146, 201, 286; for magazines, 379; plagiarism and,
Writing (cont’d) 314–316; of plays, 158; of poetry, 118, 597, 653; quality of, 446, 467, 470; of scripts, 341; style, 142, 371, 372; subjects of, 82, 469; as vocation, 263–264, 358, 366, 463, 600; vs. not writing, 398
Wylie, Philip, 71
WYVELL, CLARA FRANCES WHITE (TAR), boarding house run by, 126; care of mother, 118, 123; in childhood, 4; marriage/family of, 5, 8, 12n.; at mother’s death, 128; move to New York, 177; stay in Maine, 226. Letter: 190–191
Wyvell, Conrad, 5, 91, 91n., 462
Wyvell, Donald, 5
Wyvell, Dorothy, 5, 624
Wyvell, Eleanor, 5
Wyvell, Janet, 5
Wyvell, Manton, Jr., 5
Wyvell, Manton Marble, 5
Wyvell, Marion, 5
Wyvell, Wallace Hart, 12, 12n.
Xero-Lube, 661–662, 661n.
Xerox Corporation, 611–615
Yaddo artists community, 354, 354n.
Yale Review, 362, 362n., 364, 366
“The Years of Wonder,” 63, 343
The Years with Ross (Thurber), 413, 424, 424n.
Yellowstone National Park, 51
Yellow warblers, 494
Yglesias, José and Helen, 574, 574n.
Young, C. V. P., 20, 22
Young, Wilbur, 145
Zeckendorf, William, 341, 341n., 342
Zegart, Arthur, 365, 365n., 388, 439
ZINSSER, WILLIAM K. Letter: 521–522
ZOLOTOW, MAURICE. Letter: 270
“Zoo Revisited,” 145
“Zwarte Piete” (New Yorker short story), 301–302
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
* * *
Courtesy of the Estate of E. B. White
An essayist and early New Yorker writer, E. B. WHITE (1899–1985) also wrote the children’s classics Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan, and updated The Elements of Style. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Essays and Criticism of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the National Medal for Literature, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1973 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lived in Maine and New York City.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
* * *
MARTHA WHITE, granddaughter of E. B. White, is a writer and editor who lives on the coast of Maine. A longtime contributing editor to Yankee Publishing and The Old Farmer’s Almanac, she compiled two weekly columns for United Feature Syndicate for many years and published Traditional Home Remedies in 1997. Her articles and essays have been published in the New York Times; the Christian Science Monitor; Early American Life; Family Circle; Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors; and numerous other national magazines, as well as in small presses.
PRAISE FOR
The Revised Edition of Letters of E. B. White
* * *
“Thanks to White’s lifelong habit of writing letters—to friends, to strangers, to critics and admirers, to colleagues, to family, and above all to his wife, Katharine—we can retrace his journey across a span of more than seventy years by way of a newly updated edition of Letters of E. B. White. . . . It extends the scope of the collection to include the last decade of E. B.’s life and includes a lot of interesting, hitherto unpublished material from earlier days, much of it provided by far-flung correspondents after the first book went to press. There’s also a terrific foreword by John Updike that nicely conveys both the respect and the affection in which White was held by his peers. In their randomness, their quirky repetitions and reflections, the Letters may give us a truer sense of the life and the personality that produced them than would any conventional memoir. . . . He found a new, fully mature voice in a series of essays that would be collected in One Man’s Meat—readers of which will find letters here that feel like early, more whimsical drafts. . . . Martha White, in updating the collection, has pulled off one of the trickiest of editorial feats: a seamless melding of the original with the new. She has contributed valuable content in the form of interstitial commentary, stitching together the later sections of the book and giving us a unique perspective on the closing chapters of her grandfather’s life. . . . Martha White has managed all this with such a deft touch, matching her style to that of the original editor, Dorothy Lobrano Guth, so that the work feels all-of-a-piece and nothing distracts from the letters, and the living voice, of E. B. White himself.”
—Richard Grant, Down East
ALSO BY E. B.WHITE
* * *
Poems and Sketches of E. B. White
Essays of E. B. White
Letters of E. B. White
collected and edited by Dorothy Lobrano Guth
The Trumpet of the Swan
The Points of My Compass
The Second Tree From the Corner
Charlotte’s Web
Here Is New York
The Wild Flag
Stuart Little
One Man’s Meat
The Fox of Peapack
Quo Vadimus?
Farewell to Model T
Every Day Is Saturday
The Lady Is Cold
An E. B. White Reader
edited by William W.Watt and Robert W. Bradford
The Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jr. (revised and enlarged by E. B. White)
A Subtreasury of American Humor
co-edited with Katharine S. White
Is Sex Necessary?
with James Thurber
COPYRIGHT
* * *
Unless otherwise credited, all photographs are property of the White family.
The passage found in Chapter 3 appeared originally in The Paris Review, Issue No. 48, Fall 1969.
The passage found in Chapter 4 appeared originally in The New Yorker, December 15, 1951, copyright © 1951, The New Yorker Magazine, Inc.
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2006 by HarperCollins Publishers.
LETTERS OF E. B. WHITE. Copyright © 2006 by White Literary LLC. Foreword copyright © 2006 by John Updike. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retr
ieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST HARPER PERENNIAL EDITION PUBLISHED 2007.
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks), 1899–1985.
[Correspondence]
Letters of E. B. White / originally collected and edited by Dorothy Lobrano Guth.—Rev. ed., 1st ed. / revised and updated by Martha White.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 13: 978-0-06-075708-3 (hc)
ISBN 10: 0-06-075708-6 (hc)
1. White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks), 1899–1985—Correspondence. 2. Authors, American—20th century—Correspondence. I. Guth, Dorothy Lobrano. II. White, Martha, III. Title.
PS3545.H5187Z48 2006
818’.5209—dc22
[B] 2006043490
ISBN: 978-0-06-137459-3 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-06-137459-8 (pbk.)
EPub Edition JULY 2013 ISBN 9780062309600
07 08 09 10 11 NMSG/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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