I This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 66—14,260 WOOD Jr., Thomas Wesley, 1920- INFLUENCE OF THE PARIS HERALD ON THE LOST GENERATION OF WRITERS. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1966 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan 0 THOMAS WESLEY WOOD JR. 1967 All Rights Reserved THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE INFLUENCE OF THE PARIS HERALD ON THE LOST GENERATION OF WRITERS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY THOMAS W^' WOOD JR. Norman, Oklahoma 1966 INFLUENCE OF THE PARIS HERALD ON THE LOST GENERATION OF WRITERS APPROVED BY d . DISSERTATION COMMITTEE TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE ..................................................... iv Chapter I. A TRIPLE LEGEND FUSES (Paris, the Herald,.and the Lost Generation) ................................. 1 II. THE HERALD ' S FACTUAL IMAGE ................ 46 III. THE MAJOR LITERARY WORKS O F .HERALD STAFF MEMBERS.......................................... 91 IV. JOURNALISTIC TRAINING AND INFLUENCE OF THE HERALD ON ITS STAFF............................ 122 V. NEWSMAN-LITERATI ASSOCIATIONS....................153 VI. CONCLUSIONS; THE ADJUSTED VIEW. .'.......... 208 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................238 APPENDICES.............................. 252 111 PREFACE Legend attaching to the Paris Herald presents that publication as a light hearted newspaper which offers a sti­ mulating haven to destitute and dissolute American writers in France. Like most legends, this one contains some truth. The Herald 's alluring image first attracted me in 19^9 , upon reading Frank Luther Mott’s monumental work on the history of American journalism.^ Exposure to other books in­ creased my curiosity and I resolved to measure, if possible, the truth of the image for the period 191?-to 1939» The press of circumstances, however, thwarted the project until the summer of 1964. Eric Hawkins, editor emeritus of the Herald, then agreed to interviews and the late Dr. Donnell Owings of the University of Oklahoma’s history department agreed to direct my research. Actual work became possible when adminis­ trators at the University of Tulsa thought highly enough of the undertaking to finance the travel portion of the expenses required for a journey to Europe where I could examine the Paris Herald and interview articulate survivors of the Lost Generation. Dr. Brison Gooch agreed to direct my work after Dr. Owings’ untimely death in 1966 and Dr. Arrell Gibson saw ^Frank Luther Mott, American Journalism; A History of Newspapers in the United States Through 260 Years; I69O: 1950 (New York: Macmillan Co., 1950). iv the work through to its completion. An effort has been made to measure every conceivable influence the Herald had or might have had on the Lost - Generation men and women. In its broadest definition, the Lost Generation would number in the thousands. That definition would embrace all Americans aspiring to creative careers who visited Paris during the period between World Wars I and II. Obviously, it was necessary to reduce the scope of my study. Primary consideration has been given to persons con­ nected --sometimes remotely--with the Herald. In addition, focus was centered on individuals who lived in Paris during that era and who were engaged in efforts to write novels, poetry and other works normally less transitory in nature than newspaper stories. A further concentration was necessary since unsuccessful careerists might have been Lost Generation, but, in the strictest sense, were not writers. This, of course, assumes that recognition is essential to the classification of writer; hence the people dealt with here either became noted as writers or were successful enough in writing professions to survive and merit attention. Thus I present names, large and small, if they were in Paris between 1919 and 1939» if they made a mark through pre-eminence or endurance, and if they related to the Paris Herald. Unfortunately, not all of the people who qualified under this classification cared to come forth with their stories.^ Where possible, however, an effort was made to bridge the gap from other sources. The classification out­ lined is departed from in one category. Because some famous writers have erroneously been linked to the Herald as em­ ployees, they are mentioned in this work in the hope of setting the record straight. It should be noted here that rival newspapers, parti­ cularly the Paris edition of The Chicago Tribune, in the field from 1917 to 193^ when it was absorbed by the Herald. must also be accorded a place of honor in the matter of influence.The Paris Times, which existed from l$2k to 1929, had a lesser, although measurable, influence. Indeed, the full story of expatriate newspapers or expatriate writers in this period ^Henry Miller, for instance, did not respond to three letters directed to him and avoided an interview on the West Coast. William L. Shirer and Eric Sevareid answered letters but were very brief. Most of the people contacted, however, wrote lengthy, informative letters. Particularly helpful were Jules Frantz, A1 Laney, and Eric Hawkins. Frantz wrote 10 letters, allowed copying of about ^0 photographs and a tele­ phone interview. Laney wrote six letters and submitted to two telephone interviews and Hawkins wrote at least half a dozen letters and permitted four hours of taped interviews in Paris. Alice Toklas, longtime confidante of Gertrude Stein, still living in Paris, had broken a hip and was indisposed. ^In order to avoid confusion when referring to the European editions (Paris) of the New York Herald and the Chicago Tribune, the former will be referred to in this work as the Herald or the Paris Herald and the latter will be men­ tioned as the Tribune or the Paris Tribune. This departs somewhat from the conventional and casual references made to these papers by staff members. In their quotations they refer to the Herald Tribune sometimes as the Herald Trib and the Chicago Tribune’s Paris edition as the Chicatrib, the Trib or the Chicago Tribune, E.E. (European Edition). Herald Tribune people generally refer to the paper as used here, calling it the Herald or the Paris Herald. VI cannot be told without reference to the Tribune. In a later work I hope to expand this study to give the Tribune its due and, if possible, reach some decision as to whether the Herald or the Tribune was the prime mover among Lost- Generation writers. Vll INFLUENCE OF THE PARIS HERALD ON THE LOST GENERATION OF WRITERS CHAPTER I A TRIPLE LEGEND FUSES (Paris, the Herald, and the Lost Generation) When the Twentieth Century was still in its teens, circumstances combined to blend three legends into one and to give birth to a stunning impression of a golden era for dis­ illusioned American artists who made their way to Paris. Further, this massive impression which captured the imagina­ tion of the American people included in a vague but unques­ tioned way the idea that American newspapers there served as a haven and guiding force for these people who took on news­ paper training and then went on to greater distinction through the pages of books. This impression applied particularly to the Paris Herald. The legend of the Herald has blended so completely with those of Paris and the Lost Generation that it is impossible to look at one without looking at all three. Being the largest legend, the Lost Generation should be looked at first. "Lost Generation," as a term, dissolves upon close examination. In referring to the era in general, 2 Janet Planner, Paris correspondent for the New Yorker since 1925» defined Lost Generation people as "everyone who was here." Weakness of the term shows through when Miss Planner adds, "I know of no one who was lost,"^ and when Vincent Sheean, former journalist and now a noted author, agrees in what becomes a majority report, saying, "The only way in which 2 I ever belonged to it was by the calendar." In the face of a general rejection of the term by the people assumed to constitute the Lost Generation, one must turn to the broader group of Americans living in Paris if the expression is to have meaning. Only one person, Harold Stearns, was referred to as lost. Other specific identifica­ tion of individuals with the Lost Generation breaks down and wallows in generalities. Samuel Putnam, in Paris Was Our Mistress, refers to persons who were unable to bring them­ selves to return to the States and "became drifters, touts, pubs, bartenders, pimps, confidence men and sellers of porno­ graphic pictures. Although this allusion is to a small percentage of the thousands who went abroad and visited Paris between 1919 and 1939j the reference seems to be to the "lost" who can be found anywhere. Americans evidently have had no trouble identifying with the "American in Paris" image because many of them as Ijanet Planner, taped interview with the author, Paris, December 26, 196k, ^Vincent Sheean, letter to the author, July 6, 1965. ^Samuel Putnam, Paris Was Our Mistress (Toronto: Viking Press, 19^7)5 37, hereafter cited as Mistress. 3 tourists or members of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I had seen the "land of enchantment" which they compared to their native land. Danger and exotic behavior, experienced in an atmosphere of little restraint in war-torn or post-war France, no doubt made the image acceptable at a time when disillusionment after World War I was running high. People who became "exiles" or "expatriates," often referred to as "expas," presumably were unwilling to sit in America amid the disillusioned and went abroad in quest of a voice, new themes and techniques, and away from culturally stagnant America. Harold Stearns, editor of Civilization in the United States, which contained thirty essays chronicling the cultural desolation of America, and T.