The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-05
PERSONALITY OF A
SELF MADE FATHER
George Horace Lorimer and
How He Wrote His Fa.
nous Letters.

George Horace Lorimer (who by the
way in this very column, was once
mixed with the Rev. Mr.. Lorimer,
his father), who wrote THE Letters of
a Self Made Merchant to his Son." is
also editor of the Saturday Evening
Post, and an interesting and busy man.
In the Reader for October-by the
way, a growing and good literary
magaZine-a writer tells of what he
calls The Arrival of George Horace
Lorimer." The manner in which he
began his interesting-and wonder
fully successful-book is good reading.
One warm afternoon he sat in his Of
flee bordering upon how he should OBJ
tain an article relating to business sue
cess for young men. And suddenly the
idea came to him to write it himself
in a series of letters which at the time
he contemplated making only five or
six. He wrote the first letter at once
and that was the way the letters be-
gan. The first was comparatively easy,
but when letters of interest-and some
of protest-came pouring in from East
and West, he realized that his letters
were making decided hit, Mr.. LorimeT
found it hard to continue them. But
he did so and we know the result. With
the money he made from the book he
1t is evident that the letters were
written out of his own experience. His
father filled the pulpit of fremont
Temple of Boston years ago and young
Lorimer entered a Boston public school.
After but one year at Yale he went to
Chicago and obtained a small position
in the Armour packing house. Here
he did well, obtained much experience
an in the course of years rose until he
received a salary of $4,000 annually.
But business did not satisfy him and
he was yet young, only twenty nine,
so he resigned and looked about for
something more congenial. The news
paper business facinated him, so he
went to Boston and became reporter.
When he heard that Curtis, of Phila-
delphia, had bought the Saturday
Evening Post, he wrote him and after
an interview was employed on the
paper. In two years he was it's editor.
We all know of its success.
The Bookman for October gives
some crude specimens of the letters
that are sent by the would-be literary
to editors, asking that their manu-
scripts be published. The editor speaks
of them in rather bored way and tells
of how many troubles come to editors
and how much they have to stand.
Some of this is undoubtedly ue but
the contributor has his point of view
too, and in the same number of the
Bookman, Eugene L. Didier, a veteran
writer, gives editors some hard knocks
IN his article, entitled: 1.-THE Confess
sions of a Literary Quill-Driver." He
says there is great contrast between
the courtesy of the old time editor and
the curt printed slip which the modern
one sends with returned MSS. o.
course, the greater number now re-
celved may account somewhat for this
lack of courtesy, but there are editors
who either return q manuscript with
out letter of any kind, or neglect to
return it at ALL even when stamps
are inclosed. The editor of the Book
man must find himself utterly at odds
with his contributor on the subject of
this business of literature for there
is one thing upon which the Bookman
editor is decided it is that a pulp in
magazine work does not exist In this
Mr.. Didier disagrees with him abso-
lutely, and says that the fact of a
magazine editor knowing the contribu-
tor or being his friend, has a tremen-
dous amount to do with the accept
ance or rejection of articles He saws
this accounts for much that is mediocre
In magazines, and for the amount of
good material rejected because the
sender is unknown. The writer of this
article does not idealize editors in the
very least, but we suspect he tells a
good deal of truth about them. At
all events he gives them some good
hits and this is always pleasant to
those who have any grievances con-
nected with editors, and their names
are legion. We rather fancy this arti-
Gle in the Bookman, about editors, will
not be bad thing for the two gentle
men who are responsible for that
magazine. Not so very long ago they
printed paragraph obove their edi-
torials, telling would-be contributors
that it would be impossible for the
editors to return manuscripts when
stamps were inclosed. or even inform
writer's whether or no their articles
Were accepted. When a man becomes
so busy that the ordinary amenities of
life must be omitted, he would best
call halt and try to do less. This
notice to contributors no longer APP
pears. The Book Lover