The San Francisco call., 1909-08-08
Gossip of Books and Writers

Gossip of Books and Writers
Jacques Futrelle is known wherever
.tse best seller has gone. and the sun
:'nes-isr sets on the hest seller. But books
gre just a Futrelle by-product His
..1eai interest n life is crops In 1901
= j. llreie discovered the town Of Scitu-
ate. Sclfu2to Is situate On Massachusetts
BAY The Pilgrims discovered 1t first
-but -A1s- FuFrclle was the first aDpre-
ciate Sci1uate. Il reused the rural soul
within niIn. Since then he has spent
e5Eht months year there. farming His
farm. is about % by 20-feet this is.
not nUes. The only thing he has suc-
- eeeced in raising on il SO far are an
umbrella and a family. In the intervals
p oI n-anuns trees and onions, building
porch furniture and carving wood with
g pen kniiel. MrsFutrelle casually writes
best sellers. ID is easy TO turn out
8. literary skits az Scituate
-. Maarten Maartens-few Of whose
readers know that his real name is
oSt Marias Willem van Ger Poorten-
90 1Wartz-has been a popular author
<lFr nearly 20 years, writing IN Eng
iisl ia order to reach a larger audi
- iee than the Dutch language com
.l-anos- 10 say that he writes it like
a native of England or the United
states would fail 60 do justice to his
. 81 2se- which is not idiomatic but idio-
11cratic, heing marked by a humor
- 'Nhich As all the authors own The
s-.LoVe of Fool in Putnam's Maga-
d. zine FOR July, is "A serious enough story
-: iu an conscience. but IT is enlivened
6y playful way of putting things
that distinguished Mr.. Martens work
from that of most of his fellow men
.Of letters
. The south has lost one of its most
interesting literary figures in the
death short time ago OF Mrs. Au-
eusta j. Evans in Mobile. Ala. The
vogue Of the most popular Of her nov
se-S, st Elmo an amazingly good
best seller in the years immediat te Iy
following the close OF the civil war
has undoubtedly waned during the
last two decades. but il is neVerthe-
less a book that is-not yet forgotten
and that viii surely hold its own with
those who admire vividness of de-
scription and a certain romantic tinge
of sentiment peculiar 10 an older gen
Grafton OF writers. Mrs. Evans, who
. was Mrs. augusta J. Evans Wilson in
private life. did not write many books
lin her long life Of "A years, and this
notW thsJanding the fact that her first
novel, "Inez." appeared when she was
IS. and her last, ''Devota." was pub
long interval between these two she
wrote and published seven novels.
That The Trail OF the Go-Hawks." i"
Emile Blackmore Stapp's sparkling
Juvenile. has blazed q trail straight
to The hearts Of boy and girl readers
is proven by the numerous letters that
reach the publishers from childish ad-
mirers Of the story. Like oliver
more. and the young readers eagerly
inquire when they may expect another
story from the same gifted pen. The
author comes from the family of the
noted English writer. r. d. Black
more. author Of Lorna Doone," the
greatest romance ever written in
English. She has a wide acauaint-
ance among clubwomep, being the
much loved journalist OF the Iowa fed
Grafton.
recent newspaper paragraph
points out that what might be called
2 European edition" Of the American
Literary Digest is published by the
German emperor himself IL is called
a Daily Record Of International Opin-
ion. Unlike the American Literary
Digest. which prints some 100000
copies per week. the circulation OF the
German emperor organ Is lmited 10
exactly two copies. one OF which is
placed IN the hands OF the emperor and
the other goes into the national library.
The interesting announcement has
Just been made that Wilson Vance,
father Of Louis Joseph Vance, well
known for his 'rbe Black Bag" and
The Brass Bowl" and other novels. is
himself the author Of Big John Bid
win which Messrs. Henry Holt &
Co. expect to Issue IN the fail. Big
John is a Puritan gentleman who. has
experiences as 2 coIonist in America
and also under Cromwell in England
Miss Helen Clergue, who has written
much upon French society and letters
in the seventeenth and eighteenth CEN
turtles, is staying az present at the
Lgceum club. London. where we UNDER
stand she is busy upon new work
along the lines in which she is espe-
cially interested. She finds London,
thanks to the British museum, her best
workshop. Miss Clergue's last book
was The Salon" a study Of the insu-
tuition Of that name.
Mark Twain continues 10 enjoy his
. fHfrH1r1 1rsf4f-