Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-02-17
VISITS
DOUGLAS WHILE
SEEKING PLOTS

Close upon the heels of Dane Cool
idge, of Berkeley, Caiir western fic-
ton writer Of nete, Douglas was Wis
'ited Tuesday by another writer, viii
liam II. Handy of San Diego, who
has been earning his living for 30
years with his pen and who has
proudly watched his stories grace the
pages of practically every magazine
in the country.
Dane Coolidge alimits himself to
western novels and writes of only
what he has learned to be facts. w.
II. Handy writes all sorts of articles
long and short--touching on busi-
mess and adventure and once he has
gained his inspiration, he let's the
imagination run freely and often
builds his yarn about small plot.
Yesterday marked the first visit Of
Handy to Douglas and because he
loves the desert he Immediately be-
came enthusiastic about this city. He
will stay in this vicinity until Friday
and then leave to attend the rodeo
at Tucson. When shut in by the
mountains, Handy feels cramped,
when at the seashore he feels that
he must watch out for the encroach
ment of the tide and when on the
ocean he knows that, as mere man,
he must follow the oceans ways. But
on the desert-there he finds freedom
and space, and above all contentment.
Three of his most famous books are
Ranch of the Thorne," The Desert
Fiddler and '"The Seventh Hunch"-
| act Ia to hn 1Ora fe6
in the movies. In the February num-
Der of West a new magazine, the
visiting author now has running a
business story about the Utah Copper
company mine, called "Manacled Mil
lions, which will later appear in
book form. And those who buy the
February issue of the Cosmopolitan"
will find that William H. Handy has
his picture on page % in connection
with a brief but interesting article
on finance which teens with many
interesting facts of his life. "Ranch
of the Moon" an interesting western
tale about Tucson and Nogales is now
running in the "True Confessions"
magazine. In addition to these pub
lications, Handy has had stories and
articles published in THE Popular
Magazine" and "The Saturday Eve
ming Post" as we'll as in dozens of
others. Wherever he goes, the author
! states, he can discover a story and
while looking about Douglas and
Aqua Prieta yesterday, he felt conf
/ dent that he would surely unearth
plot Mere incidents furnish him
with an inspiration and from them,
he weaves his story, whatever it may
be.
Handy began his writing career in
newspaper work, running weekly
| in his native state of Missouri for
year and then going later to the
Missouri Times as an editor His first
literary effort was writing an edi-
torial on the st. Louis Fair and out
of a large field of aspirants he was
successful, winning a $50 prize. His
/ education has been obtained in
/ broken manner, as he went first to
Drury college in Springfield, Missouri
and later to the University of Mis-
souri, He began writing at 1S years
/ of age but worked at writing for
seven years before he was able to.
sell a line. For the past eight
years, he has lived in San Diego and
for the past 20 years has been maxi
+ ing his living by writing alone.
I There is nothing in the world equi-
valent to the thrill of seeing ones
first story in print, he states, bur
after the. fun of the early writing
period wears off, success is obtained,
lin Hambys opinion, chiefly by steady,
hard work. Today he is enjoying his
work and makes most comfortable
living. Like Dane Coolidge he finds
less financial return through having
books published than through the
magazine and movie channels. He
has been successful, however, in hav-
ing leading London publishers accept
his stories and gets advanced royal
ties from them.
Those who buy copy of the Feb
ruary Cosmopolitan will find his ar
ticle in it, most fascinating and in
spiring