The Washington times., 1917-07-02
The Rise of Fannie Hurst to Fame AS
the Foremost Short Story Writer
By Elizabeth Jordan

Today Fannie Hurst is the most
successful short story writer in Amer
lea She is called The New o.
Henry" She has a contract to write
exclusively for the Cosmopolitan Mag
aEins. and. according to this contract,
1t is said, she receives 8, 500 for each
OF her short stories.
Five years ago Fannie Hurst was
living in New York on So or 81 q
week. She wrote every day, and all
day long. She bombarded editors
with manuscripts, and every manu-
script she sent out was returned to
her.
When at last, after more than a
year Of privation, she sold q story,
she received $50 for it. The day the
check came was the great day Of her
life.
Fannie Hurst.s Life n Absorbing ~
a Fairy Tale
A contrast as sharp as this Is not
often shown US, even IN New York.
The story of the rise OF Fannie Hurst
reads like a fairy tale. but It is more
absorbing than any fairy tale could
be.
am telling II here for two -ea-
sons: Because of its unique interest,
and because Of its inspiration for
every human being who reads it.,
Fannie Hurst was born in St Louis,
less than thirty years ago. She is an
only child of Jewish parents. Her
father is q business man in very mod
est circumstances.
At the age OF seven Fannie pro-
duced her frst literature. 1t was q
poem of three lines. Unfortunately,
II Is lost to the world. Her father
wore It out by carrying IL around In
his pockets and proudly showing az
20 his friends. In the meantime, the
inspired poetess forgot the lines.
Because she was an only child, and
because she was also extremely clever.
Fannie was given an education which,
ordinarily. her parents would have
felt was beyond their income.
She went through a public school
and then through q high school,
graduating from the latter at fifteen-
At nineteen she graduated from
washington University OF St Louis.
Throughout this time she wrote
steadily, and wholly without encour-
agement
Her Burning Ambition to Appear In
the High school News.
In the high school she developed a
burning ambition The pupils pub
lished a Journal-the High School
News. Fannie's ambition was to
have q story in this journal For
four years she spent her free time
writing toward this end. In that en-
tire period not one OF her stories
was accepted by the High School
News.
That might have discouraged less
determined spirit 1t did not. dis
courage Fannie Hurst. But an cpl
sode that happened at the end Of the
course did.
Fannie was not good at mathematics.
Most of her classmates were not good
at composition. An arrangement was
made by which she was helped in
mathematics. while in return she
wrote the compositions OF her friends.
This arrangement was discovered
on the eve OF her graduation. As
q punishment, she was nat permitted
to read her graduation essay. nor cven
to grace the. platform during the ex-
eTcises.
The experience temporarily blight
ed her creative faculty. For months
she did not write at all. Then, toward
the end OF her first year In the uni
versity, she wrote a short story about
q shop girl. With Characteristic de-
termination. she sent it to the High
School News.
l. was accepted. The young author
began TO feel that there might be
something pleasant, after all, in this
business of living.
"'Of course, after that, I bombarded
the High School News with stories
4Liss Hurst sadly told me in discuss
ing this episode. But II never took
anything else. However. just .hs Dth-
er day. had q letter from the editors,
asking me TO write something.
dropped my work. got permission