New-York tribune., 1922-11-12

4
unfortunate that they cannot keep
sheir heads. not oscillate them be-
tween two extremes The Greeks.
whom both romantics and classicists
never tire OF praising, made a plati-
tude OF the Golden Mean; and I think
tnat 1t is maxim to be contemplated
with sacred meditation by all the
young seeessionists, futurists, express
ssionists, ETC., who are about ready to
denigrate that which they were only q
moment ago prociaiming to be the
oniy good, true, and beautiful. II may
be that reaction is already under
way, and that shortly we shall have an
era OF Journalism and didacticism such
as obtains in all really decadent
periods OF literature. | hope not.
THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 9.
Lunched with Maxwell Perkins and
we talked about James Huneker, DR.. w.
G. BrowTeli, Copeland of Harvard.
Woodward Boyd; and the disparity be.
tween the conception one forms OF a
writer from reading his work and what
the writer is really like when one
meets him. This terrifying sentence
has been pronounced upon me literally
by dozens of people when have met
them. for the first time: "Why, I pic
tured You as an old man with long
white whiskers." After this dubious
characterization have invariably re-
read some of my stuff with critical
eye, to see what in it suggested Sc
nescence. "But," said Perkins, stake
Alexander Woolcott, he looks exactly
the way you would expect him to look.o
Which reminds me Of Robert Nathan's
remark after meeting Llewellyn Jones.
the Chicago critic: at is curious how
much Llewllyn Jones looks like Lie
wellyn Jones'" In discussirv
Huneker's letters, Perkins brought out
the point that Huneker never seemed
TO nave been made aware Of his actual
greatness and the influence he had had
upon the present generation. Huneker
consistently underestimated himself.
settlng down his work as mere pot
boiling journalism, and seeming al
ways to regret that he had not devoted
more Of his time to novel writing,
ss Gs'a special ss oss hoass soms eas
friend, like John Quinn, had only
told Hnneker how important as an in.
fuencc he was" said Perkins, "and had
treasured him with generous and
understanding praise, he might never
have grown as careless with his work
as he did at times in his later wears"
/ told Perkins that thought
woodward Boyd, the author of "The
love Legend" had an interesting point
Of view and great gift of observation,
and that she undoubtedly had in her a
number of novels even better than "The
Love Legend" For all It's faults in
the writing, this is to me one of the
meatiest and best novels written by
the younger generation She has
packed into 1t too much material for
one novel, telling four stories stimuli
taneously; but she has done it very
we'll indeed.
To tea this afternoon with Hugh
Walpoie, who is giving q series Of lee
tures in this country on the novel. He
had just picked up In q secondhand
bookshop bound volume of the "Corn-
hill Magazine" for January-June, 1874,
containing Thomas Hardy's Gar From
II the Madaing Crowd complete, and he
showed me privately printed edition
of some poems by John Drinkwater,
beautifully gotten out, with blue
parchment covers. "They are very
passionate poems," said Walpole.
What" I asked, Passionate poems
by Drinkwater?" eyes, for Drink
water" We talked James Joyce, p. Ii.
Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Re-
becca West, John Middleton N1urry.
Hergesheimer and Sinclair Lewis. He
said he had been particularly i'm
pressed by two men he had met re-
cently-Carl van Vechten and Thomas
Beer. "Van Vechten seemed to toll
crate me easily enough, but Beer took
an instantaneous and violent dislike
for me. We were chatting and he said
something about book he was writ
ing on Stephen Crane, and asked me
h 1iv, n,-l tl.s
he wanted to get about Conrads asso-
citation with Crane. Something l said
must have offended him, for he turned
abruptly away from me and didn't no
tlce me all the rest OF the evening"
told him that Beer was acutely sensi-
tive, shy and even diffident; and when
Walpole asked me what interesting
new man had come up since he was
last over here, I mentioned Beer as
probably the artist most worth watch
ing among the fctionists. "That is in
teresting," said Walpole, "for although
he was at no pains to conceal his dis
taste for me he made strong impress
sion upon me; his personality stays
with me-" He asked me about Beer
as person atld / told him that al
though he is only thirty three, he has
the air, manner, speech and appearance
of a niddie-aged man; that he has
numerous harmless aUecCaC1OnEr Eucf
as q stage-English accent and his
trionic gestures; that it is difficult to
worm decisive opinion out of him;
but that he Is one of the most likable,
intelli gent, well-informed and aware
persons / know. toid him I would
send him copy of Beers novel, "The
Fair Rewards" and, if could find
them, copies of some OF his distinctive
and beautifully written short stories.
Waipole chided me about my animad-
versions on ]. C. Squire and astonished
me by saying that Squire and Shanks
no longer had any influence whatever
in England. "He is harmless enough
chap" said Walpole, "and if he has an
attitude of lofty condescension toward
American writers, he has an equally
condescending attitude toward modern
English noveliste. / once wrote to him
complaining that q novel by Gals
worthy had not been reviewed in "The
Mercury" and he wrote back to say
that Galsworthy was no more worthy
of notice than Marie Corelli. Now that
of course is merely silly. He is very
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