Evening star., 1937-12-19
POETRY PRODUCTION HERE
Washington Writers Are Represented Output of Literary
World-Announcements Have Been Generous
Toward City and Suburbs.

"How comeT' you may very wen
ask. The answer is-by the working
OF an immortal American tradition,
by one of the most revered laws Of
the Republic, by the process, that Is,
OF Merit being Recognized, Vt True
Worth being Rewarded, Of Industry,
Piety and Sweet Temper getting their
Just Accolade at last. In short, the
reviewer is now figure famous in
American folklore. You have heard,
have you not, Of Local Boy Who Made
Good? Well, the reviewer is now the
female of that species. She is Local
Girl Who Made Good. She has been
written up in her home town paper.
Does that clinch it, or does it not?
Yes, written up in the home town
paper. Five years after arriving in
the Nations Capital with practically
no assets beyond the aforementioned
Industry, Piety and Sweetness, the
reviewer has been written up in tIe
Parkersburg West Virginia) News
under a headline which describes her,
with minimum of error, as prom
inent literary editor of the Wash
ington Sun" Sun or Star-What
boots it? The intention was the
same, and the implications can be
drawn unflawed: obviously the en-
emies of democracy, in spite of their
most earnest efforts, have not wholly
triumphed yet. This being written up
why, 1t has the ring of a genuine
American idyll. 1t is in the purest
classic tradition of our land. The
eagle screams, the breaking waves
dash high on the stern and rock
bound coast, the home town editor
looks over his mail and Local Girl
Makes Good. Columbia, 1t would
seem, is still the gem of the ocean.
1T ALL began few weeks ago, when
lady out in Maryland innocently
wrote the reviewer asking in a nice
friendly way how book reviewers be-
come book reviewers. That was a
question. The present reviewer could
not answer it in general terms. She
did not know, frankly, how other re-
viewers came by the occupation. So
she just sat down and wrote the lady
out in Maryland description Of how
she, herself, had happened to enter
the critics dangerous profession. And
this involved telling of her extremely
modest beginnings on the staff of
the Parkersburg tWest Virginia.
News. After writing that letter, the
reviewer remembered that many peo-
ple-particularly young boys and
girls-had asked her the same ques-
tion-how does book reviewer get
that way? So she decided to publish
the answer in her columns. There
seemed to be enough general interest
to warrant it.
Accordingly, the story was published.
1t appeared on The Stars book page
Of November 6. And the reviewer
went back to her reviewing and for
got all about the business. But the
editor of the Parkersburg West Vir-
ginia) News in the interim went
through his mail. And somebody had
sent him clipping. The result was
that the reviewer leaped into print in
VIC SoiuiiiilS VI lCi OOWH pdDtI
with dramatic suddenness. And there
you have the whole story-Local Girl
had indubitably and demonstrably
Made Good.
The reviewer is now sitting day aft
er day in her modest Office waiting for
the telephone to ring. She expects
that the word of her enshrinement as
a minor folk deity and legend will
very shortly be reported to the Folk
lore Division of the Federal Writers
Project by its busy sleuths and that
they will ask her for an interview.
She expects that they will want to
know the typical techniques, trends
| and skills involved in the correlation
of the coordination of the integration
Of the evolution of the social dynamics
Of the group structures of the usual
bunk. The reviewer is busy class an
Cling her reply. She doesn't know
exactly what it will be yet, but of
| course, it must have a class angle.
Beyond that she cannot say. except
that it will be snappy. And snappi-
ness is technique" (bless your
heart) that the Project writer's seem
not to approve. Or maybe they Just
! haven't mastered 1t yet?