Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-02-15
Ghos+wri+inq
Grows More
Acceptable
Frank Menke Is Called
Best Of Them All
By DAMON RUNYON

WE READ an advertisement
W in a New York paper re-
Gently of "ghostwriters', bu-
reau," stating that it is prepared
to furnish material on any topic,
for any purpose. of any length.
I'VE Write It-You Sign It," the
ad said, a statement which sue
cinctly explains ghostwriting. A
ghostwriter is a fellow who
writes something in some one
else's name.
The ghostee may be a person
of such celebrity as to make his
thoughts interesting and impor.
tant. but may lack the facility
for putting them down on paper.
Or he may be too busy to do
the actual writing. though able
to find time to tell his story TO
a ghost. II is much easier to
tell something than it is to
write it.
COMETIMES the ghostee may
~ be so dumb that he has no
thoughts whatever. though still
possessing a celebrity that lends
Importance to his name. a situa-
ton that used TO develop when
the names of baseball players
and other noble athletes were
deemed of value over newspaper
and magazine articles, and in
such cases the ghost has to
supply the thoughts.
1t is not difficult, unless the
ghost has no thoughts, either.
Formerly it was the practice
to put only the name Of the
ghostee over the article, the
ghost remaining obscure and I'M
known. which was not infre-
quently the ghosts personal
preference, but nowadays the
tendency is 10 give both ghost
and ghostee what you might call
screen credit, making it read
by William Gloopus, as told to
Ferdinand Scallion."
This undoubtedly makes for
better ghostwriting. because
when a ghost knows that he is
going 10 remain quite ghostly
indeed in connection with the
written product he is not dis
posed TO give his very all to the
business. We are speaking. you
understand. as an old time
ghostWriter.
CHOSTWRITING in its sha-
VI dowier phases suffered some
embarrassment the time the
mighty Babe Ruth sustained
severe stomach ache that made
all the front pages and even as
he lay groaning on bed of pain
his article was published in q
tense that suggested that he
was writing and writing stimuli
taneously.
But ghostwriting goes way
back in human history. We are
told by biblical students that it
is no cinch that some of the
works in the Bible were written
by the authors TO whom they are
credited.
Many a piece of great litera-
ture of the past is believed TO
have been ghosted. The high
and mighty of another day often
hired ghosts TO compose for
them poems and essays for
which they took full credit and
some of which perhaps have un-
dying fame under the names OF
the ghostees.
IT is a common practice now
L adays for some Of our great
est statesmen to engage ghosts
TO write their speeches.
We would like to have a dollar
a word for every word Charley
Nicholson, the Democrats pub
licity chief. has written for pub
lie utterance by the statesmen.
Many popular song for
which famous performers or
band leaders share credit and
royalties is the work of some
more obscure character and the
celebrities just cut themselves
in on the credit for introduce
ing il.
One of the most profitable
books in the world today was a
ghost job. This is Adolf Hitler's
"Mein Kampf." It's profits are
due, not to its literary merits.
but to Hitler's peculiar methods
of forcible craftsmanship.
1t is admitted that the book
was written by fellow who was
in Jail with Adolf. His name
escapes uS at the moment.
If you locked Hitler in a room
with paper and pencils for a
month he probably. could not
-een1e out with an essay on any
S'fbicct that would pass a fourth
grade teacher. a test that might
have disastrous results to some
of our own notables whose names
appear as authors.
WE STILL claim that the
w greatest ghostwriter that
ever lived is Frank Menke,
well known newspaperman who
did the ghosting for both Gene
Tunney and Jack Dempsey when
they were too busy training for
their fight for the heavyweight
championship in Chicago to
bother with literary effort.
Frank was pretty busy. too.
and he did not always have time
to see his authors to hear what
they wanted to say so he said
what he thought they should say.