Evening star., 1942-02-07

haps should be investigated as q clue
for both. That is not always the
case.
Mr.. Calico is an interesting fell
low in that he has done what every
newspaperman furtively dreams Of
doing, namely. chucking his job and
taking whirl at less ephemeral
literature. 1t was a fine job he
chuCked, too, which makes him seem
vastly more admirable than the fell
low who gives up one that doesn't
pay impressive thousands a year.
His awed old associates are asking
him still where he got the courage.
1T wasn't courage" Mr.. Calico
explains. "It was a case OF being
fed up on merely dreaming about
being on my own and of having
$1,000 all at one time. I got the
$4,000 from story I sold to the
movies and holding that much
money in my hand gave me the idea
of cutting loose"
Cutting loose, in case any other
writer ever miraculously finds him
self in the predicament of having
5000 at one time, involved a very
simple procedure. Mr.. Calico sim
ply split the check $3.50 between
himself and his dependents and
went to England with a few shirts,
typewriter and number of we'll
thumbed ideas for stories.
He felt very profoundly that 1t
was fun to be free, but there were
misgivings, too.
After being brought up on q
salary" he explains, you never get
used to being without it. Every
time wrote a check I had the
feeling Of being that much closer
to going back to a newspaper syndi-
cate job. never knew how a man
could miss payday unless. Of course,
he were in actual want Of food,
which is something any one can
imagine"
When publishers started buying
Mr.. Gallico's stories and pieces"
as they very wisely did, he discov-
cred quite an interesting thing about
readers.
AS a result Of his many. news
paper connections as sports writer,
one who was almost flagrantly
syndicated, he logically had the idea
that his name was widely known.
His potential readers in the course
Of his newspaper career-that is to
say, the aggregate circulation OF
the papers which printed his COL
umn-added up to an incredible
number of millions.
How nice" said his first pub
Usher disconcertingly when Calico
added them, "but, of course, they
mean nothing to you now
Mr.. Calico was incredulous and
dismayed, as who wouldn't be?
Even an extraordinarily modest
man, which he is, thought more
highly Of reader loyalty than that.
The publisher explained that 1t
was not a matter of loyalty but Of
writing for a different audience
the book-buying one, which is la
mentally smaller.
II learned how much smaller"
Mr.. Calico says philosophically,
when my first book sold only 5000
copies"
That was an awful number for
millions to dwindle to, but Mr.. Gal
lico survived the shock. Helping
him to do so was the fact that he
never had period in which the
earnings Of his aggregate writings
was not near enough to his old in
come-sometimes well above ito
give him confidence.
Mr.. Gallico's sense Of the drama
in human character together with
his skill for writing action, and his
feel for life generally, brought his
work to Hcllywood's attention.
Aided, of course, by the good offices
of his agent, who. like most agents,
knew the trick of speaking to Hol-
lywood about its lacks and its needs
in refined, convincing way.
The consequence was that he and
the cinema developed an affinity.
As a free man, the thing he al
ways wanted to be, he was privi-
legged to go where he pleased, and
eventually it pleased him to 60 to
Hollywood.
He has spent a lot of his time
there, most recently engaged upon
the scripts of "Joe Smith, Ameri-
can," which Is now being released,
and upon Samuel Goldwyn's soon
to-be-made film based upon the life
story of Lou Gehrig.
Unlike SO many writers who come
away from Hollywood in $3.50 suits
and deep despair, Mr.. Calico just
came away. He has heard all those
stories about the humiliation of
the writer in the movies, but in
his case they have not been true
Every one treated him fine (Which
they might have been afraid not
to do, considering his mammoth
size), and he will 60 back any time
he's wanted.
At this point in his free-lance
career Mr.. Calico has come to
several conclusions which he states
with characteristic honesty. A cou-
pie of them are:
l. A writer starts story primari-
ly because he needs money.
2. No matter how much money
he makes, he never gets over miss
ing a weekly payday If he happens
to have been reared on one.
@stioqN