The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-21
Mr.: Spearman',
Literary
Lantern
BY WALTER sPEABn,,

no. VI, - Mill, Dec. 20
man who began life on A
carellna I ea tenant farm, studisS sGuth
a Southern military N.lso H At
worked wsn on " a Georgia nsvsHl ssnool
Per- and finally became "sp'' p spa
lar American novelist al Yopu,
torlan, has now writer anu . his,
the years most entertainiOe Une Of
toblographies. The man ,'-'is a. su' H.
= = Woodward lin Graniten;NW tS v.
$. c. they called him ''evllls, Win.
there e. little ole Willie voas oas'
BOOKS BOOKS as Meet Cena..I5 C,nr.I
Grant" Or Evelyn Prentice egnsrsl y s
-, Tom Paine: Americas cost. shd
ther' and coiner Of thai 4Oul''
popular term, "debunks now p'
new book is THE Gift of J;ta MS
an appropriate title for DDs e
stoly OF a man who loved III.
and d lived it boldly, enthusiast rt'
cally and abundantlv, n 'S,,' ,
Dutton and Co., Inc, New v,,i, T.
43 PIP. $4,75) A0'S'
Having successfully "dab,,.,
ed" George Washington '1nA, a,
General Grant, Author v'aD .n9
ward astutely predicts that "uDN' Wv
viewers will say Of his ,,,,,
book, Woodward Deb,'n1. n5n
HIMSELF which is exactly r.ns' a'
he proceeds to do in this ,n,. ne,
biography, His candor is 50 1u'0 ""
arming and his modestv 90 ~ .s
gaging that his self deb,mkinr ~
makes his readers like him ~
the better-whether he is con ",I
Tossing how he slipped back ;nto
the walls of The Citadel ',t ~
charleston concealed on a loaI
e VI iUdU
OF fresh meat or how he lost b;s
virtue in a vine-covered cors s
near Graniteville with a sirl
nearly twice his age. Oh
Later chapters tell Of ri,
working in an Atlanta factory
and on Augusta and AtIsnt,
newspapers. He even had an on,
portunity of working for n.
Coca-Cola company for a small
salary and shares of stock, bt
turned down the offer and lost
what would have been fortrn.
In New York, he became a sur.
cessful neWspaperman, adyer.
tlslng man and banker. One Of
his best stories of this period !,
the remark he made to Mr.
Rupert when he was handling
the Rupert beer advertising
account. He was promotion
manager for the Hearst papers
but found Mr.. Hearst "childish"
and unstable. For some years
he ran syndicated book page
and hired Sinclair Lewis to b,
his first editor.
During the 192O's in New York
Woodward was an intimate part
of the local literati and his ac.
counts of Theodore Dresser,
Lewis. Laurence Stallings,
Thomas Wolfe, Van Wyct
Brooks, Julia Peterkin. H. G.
Wells, Alexander Woollcott,
Lynn Fontanne, Elizabeth Mad.
OK Roberts and many Others
make interesting reading. He
still feels responsible for having
sent Dresser to Russia and SAYS
that Dresser became a Commu-
mist on that trip and remained
one until his recent death He
mentions liking North Carolini-
an James Street and particular
lv admiring his book, 1.-THE
Gauntlet"
| Woodward was 46 when he
started his writing and WAS phe'
nomenallv successful with that
Now at 73 he states in The final
pages of his autobiography that
he has three more novels hs
wants to write and concludes
81 do not know how ! could 1--we
an idle life" Certainly his book
indicates that he has slreaoy
lived a busy life, that he THOR,
oughly enjoyed living it and VIII
be quite glad for other people
to enjoy reading about IT, hnu
indeed they will, for in spite o'
lack of organization and no
great feeling for phrases, Ip' ,l
Gift of Life" is tull Of vltallF'
hunor. genuine love Of human
itv and q refreshing frarEnss Yrs
that allows him to be perfecu.
natural in discussine laooT u
ganjzers in South Carolina Of
nude mattresses in poP0''
Partisan restaurant.
! HANES TO SPEEk
| c,r1Apr 0r,TE Dec 1o y