The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-03-07
PEACH TALKS ON
WAYS Of WRITERS
Gives Highly Entertaining
Lecture at WOman's Club
Meeting
IDEALS AS VARIED
AS ARE THE AUTHORS
Brattleboro High School Graduate, Now
Professor at Norwich, Himself Sue
cessful in Field of Literature-Aver-
age Prices Paid.

frOleSSoI at NorW1cn HlmSelf Sue |
cessful in Field of Iiterature-Aver-
age Prices Paid
| The meeting of the Brattleboro Wom-
an 5 club yesterday afternoon in the
Unitarian parish house was one of un-
usual interest as the speaker was
Brattleboro boy who has made good
both IN his profession as a teacher and
IN the field of letters, Arthur Wallace
Peach the head of the English depart
ment in Norwich university. Prof
Peach possesses a pleasing manner as a
speaker and held the close attention of
his audience throughout his very en-
tertaining and illuminating lecture on
the subject, Writers and Their Ways.
He began by paving tribute to the
local high school which gave him a
preparation for college equal to that
of any other student in Middlebury, his
alma mater. He said that the Brat
tlebOro boys who enter Norwich show
preparation equal to that of larger and
more distant schools.
Prof. Peach spoke appreciativelv of
his teachers here, Miss Perkins. now
Mrs. Robert c. Clark, and Miss Gordon.
: from whom he caught his first glimpses
of the wonderful world of literature,
and of Mrs Elmer and Miss Crowell.
who put him in touch with those ancient
civilizations which alone can teach us
humanism.
The speaker said the question has
been asked him as to how he wrote
poetry and for an answer he said two
women might use the same formula for
: making bread and as 4 result one might
t get bread and the other might get
, vexed. Prof. Peach has written verse or
stories since his freshman days in high
: school and received his first check for
> a literary composition in that year He
has n scrap book containing 1900
= printed poems, though he would not say
] himself how many of them were litera.
! ture. That could be left to his friends
= He has received letters Of appreciation
from the four corners of the earth One
has been received from a wounded sol
dier IN France for whom friend bought
: an American magazine in Paris contain.
: ing one of his poems.
y While there has been more or less
commerclaism as a reason for his
; writings, as there is with most writers
many more have been written for The
n art 5 sake and have brought many splen
; did friends
= Prof. Peach said that in considering
the subject broad and interesting
. background is necessary. There arr
e about 25,0OO magazines in this country
/ open to contributions and about 2,50t
e of these print stories How much i
II literature it is impossible to say. Som,
critics say none,, but some surely are
II There should be no sympathy with tn,
& view that the only great author is
IT dead one.
e The question is often asked as to wha
y kind of an animal an author it. Th
if public is like to associate with then
frcakish dress, long hair, poverty, al
attic room, disinchnation to pay one
bills, but this view is, generally speak
ing, false.
One person when asked what kind o
= person is a writer answered, a huma
being like yourself. There are variou
classes of writers, those of the fourt
IN and fifth class writing oftentimes fo
condemned magazines, but, even 81
some literature finds its way into sucl
In speaking of the ideals of writers
Prof. Peach says they are as many a
IN the writers. Not all write for money
as Cnquestionablv writer's wish most t
an hear that some poem or story has helpe
ar someone. The ideal of service is nc
90 alone the property of ministers. H
or gave many illustrations as to the source
90 of material for stories and poems. Th
es Bird S Christmas Carol was written
tn a school teacher in San Francisco an
MT was her first book which was written fc
of phllanthropic purposes. The speakt
ce said there was doubtless plenty of IN;
re terial in Brattleboro to last an al
~ thor a life time. Great literature
iaI made from the common joys and sorrow
of life rather than from any create
theme. Prof. Peach told the circun
stances from which Ellis Parker Blu
Ter produced Pigs Is Pigs, perhaps ii
-. funniest story in American hteratur
VA He also read an advertisement and sta
Ie ed that the story based on that sold fl
5000. Anne of Green Gables, of whie
= over 100000 copies have already bee
~ ia' sold, grew out of an order for a seve
% chapter serial story for a Sunday scho
~ paper, for stories are ordered
you order bread and cheese. Miss Mon
- gomery wrote the story from a fade
entry in her diary of man and woms
who wanted to adopt boy from {
orphan asylum, but who took a girl i
stead.
at In speaking of the earnings of wri
ers, Prof Peach said the average pri
paid by magazines for stories was fro
full one-half to three cents a word Poe
of are not so well paid, receiving only
Nd cents q line The AVERAGE eOmnoSifi