South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-11-05
Edna Ferber
On Personality
Creator of Emma McChesney
Stories Tells Her Ideas
of Real Folks"
BY ANN Isle.

I'D rather have one glass of vint-
age wine than a whole gallon of cider
l like real folks not the Nobody
Homes, the parasites who sap brains
and enermy, not the MASTERS. Real,
outstanding folks for me. And they
are rare and come along about one at
a time, said Edna Ferber in the
brisk yet dreamy. sure of itself yet
friendly voice that Emma McChes-
ney must have borrowed straight
from her.
The creator of the best loved wom-
an character in modern fiction is
young woman of IS who began her
career as a 17-year-Old reporter in APP
pleton, Wis, and after several years
of newspaper training won q well
come way into magazinedOm four
years ago.
And today every one knows brave
Emma McChesney and her son Jock:
every one is waiting for their next
appearance in the Cosmopolitan mag
azine and on the stage.
In the meantime it seems dis
tinctly worth while to get the point
of view on how to be real folks of
the girl who created them, for we
all would like TO be attractive and
worth while and lovable. And the
seekers after soul and spirit and
mind beauty shall find" while those
who want to make crumpled rose
leaf compilations out of weather
beatel reds and tans aren't so GER
tain of success.
With earnest and interesting brown
eyes looking at me from under
heavy level brows Edna Ferber gave
the key to her own personality even
while she told me how she felt about
personality plus"
Each of us has a treasure casket.'
1t holds something we can do-some
gift born in us. If you blow on a
spark it will kindle The point is to
be what you have it in you to be,
whether scrub-woman or painter.
Kindle the spark.
It Pays to Talk Things Over.
lit pays to talk things overs with
yourself and do what fits in with your
plan of your own life. There is
splendid beauty in a fine. big, hon
est, unafraid, clear-eyed, outstanding
woman who is doing the work she
has to do and has it in her TO do.
But it mustn't be done for the
mere reason that she wants to do il.
The worlds game has rules-they
are pretty sane and you have to fol-
low them, even though sometimes you
can't make your work hang together
even lnOuBn WON'T Jell.
Edna Emma McChesney Ferber
laughed her hashingly hearty, full
-white-teeth laugh and her
sensitive mouth looked chummy with
life.
You have to know what you want
to do-work or frivol. Now, I need
eight hours sleep. So 1 go home at
1880, even if my hostess expression
looks like it's a stormy night out
side'-and L go out only about two
nights a week.
Some people say you have to keep
chasing around after life to see it.
Well. I don't think you see much
when you consciously observe. You
don't have actually to experience.
You lay up observation for future
reference. You notice how a scrub
woman acts without actually taking
on her job.
''Why, when L sat on the Ferber
porch and watched the world go by
in Appleton 1 got more than I would
now by going down TO Madison
Square and trying consciously to get
the viewpoint of the people there"
You mean real folks don't need
so-called broadening influence: that
when they" deliberately go after ex-
perience they spoil what they get, as
you interfere with your breathing
when you're conscious of it," I asked
All OF Life Trains One.
You've said it." replied Miss Ferber
with alert enthusiasm. "All of life
trains you if you take it in. Now
when enduring suffering trained OBJ
server knows she will use her expert
ence as material some day. So even
pain isn't wasted. Why, the people
who have never been unhappy have
never been-happy. But that's so true
it's trite.'
Can you tell real folks by their