TIDE MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY, OCT0131,111 23,
Books and Writers<lWW J
A-No. 1
Hugh Lofting comes to Ann Arbor
Tuesday afternoon to talk about the
a 1 m o a t-extinct-pushmi-pullyu, a n d
Polynesia the parrot, and Doctor Do-
little (John Dolittle, M. D.); also, he
will talk about matters quite remote
from Doctor Dolittle's home at Pud-
dleby-on-Marsh.
For Lofting, the biographer of Doc-
tor Dolittle and the most popular
writer of children's stories since
Kipling's Jungle Tales and Lewis Car-,
roll, dislikes being known solely as a
writer of tales for youngsters. Fact
is, Doctor Dolittle (John Dolittle,
M. D.), came into the world more or
less accidentally.
Wanderlust, a hankering to poke
Into queer corners of the world,
early afflicted Mr. Lofting. At first,
an architect, then a civil engineer,1
his profession took him to Canada,
Africa, the- West Indies. His first'
story published in New York, was
about culverts and a bridge. Mr.
Lofting before this had given up engi-
neering to spend all his time writing.
He continued to write, and publish,
short stories until the War came.
Mr. Lofting as architect and later
as engineer had had to do considerable'
drawing of a technical sort. During
the war he sent home-letters and tiny'
stories, illustrated by himself. Among
them appeared Doctor Dolittle (John
Dolittle, M. D.), who learneid the1
animal languages and whose insist-
ence upon admitting his animal ac-
quaintance to his home alienated his
housekeeper and his medical practice.
People didn't like sitting down on the
hedge-hog in the anti-chamber.
-'I
SO HUMAN Text and Pictures by Don
Herold E. P. Dutton & Co., $2.00.
'To any regular reader of Life orj
Judge it is fruitless to shout the
praises of Don Herold; it would be
sufficient to inform them that he had
- l gotout a book and they would buy
it. To those members of the public
who do not know Mr. Herold we sim-
ply submit the fact that he has dedi-
cated his book to "Don Herold, with-
out whose cheery encouragement in
the darker hours of its preparation
this book would not have been pos-
sible."
Mr. Herold's method is such as'prac-
tically to insure universal appeal for
in Wonderland Through the Looking- eery.e has observed; and he pla
Glass has an author responded to an with th agniiesdthesfes
encore more successfully," said the under them, or triumps over them.
Atlanti(. WM thly. In 1923, Mr. Loft- His method is the method of humor-
ing was awardled the John Newberry ous hyperbole. Consider for example
Medal-after the children's librarians his chapter (he calls them chapters
of the country had judged the Voyages himself) on "The New Technique or
of Doctor Dolittle "the most distin- Ablution." He says in part:
guished contribution to American "I have given up hope of ever be-
literature for children in 1922." coming sophisticated. Everywhere I
Doctor Dolittle's Post Office, which go there is a different towel and soap
presents all sorts of innovations- system. I can no longer enter a
good pens in the post office and after- I hotel, theatre or Pullman washroom
noon tea for both staff and clientele, with the air of a man who has been
is the third of the Doctor Dolittle there before. I know, now, that
series. Doctor Dolittle's Circus, like wherever I go I must learn some
the other Dolittle books illustrated by new and novel way of drying my
the author, is appearing this fall. In hands and face, and fathom some new
it a prominent part is taken by the source of soap. .
pushmi-pullyu, which has two heads, "The cloth towel, too, is baffling.
but only talks with one, so as to In almost every washroom the cloth
keep one mouth for eating mostly, so towel comes, I may say, in a different
that it can talk' while eating without dress. The cloth towel is not what
being rude. The pushmi-pullyu, which
was persuaded by the monkey (after serts his faith In wife-beating. Al-
Doctor Dolittle had cured the epi- though fond of the Great Wide Spaces,
demic in Monkeyland) to come to Mr. Lofting says he sleeps in the gar-
England, proved ,such an attraction den because the children have no room
that all the money necessary to pay for him in the house. His favorite
for the ship used on the voyage, was recreation is hop?scotch. Al) of which
earned. is entirely unsubstantiated by testi-
Porridge Poetry, a collection of Mr. mony other than his own.
Lofting's rhymes, each illustrated by Hugh Lofting alleges that his an-
himself, is also beings published this cestors left Amsterdam. Be that as it
fall. may, America's greatest present-day
Mr. Lofting's autobiograph--extent writer of children's stories is an
one page, illustrated by himself-is Englishman. He is an Englishman of
succinct. "In the seventeenth cen- Irish descent.'
tury," says Mr. Lofting, "my ancestors Mr. Lofting is coming to Ann Arbor
left Amsterdam-on account of reli- under the auspices of Whimsies.
gious persecution. All that talk about j Three or four other writers will be
it used to be and certainly not what Apropos of M. Herold
it is going to be. It is perhaps in an (
era idwy btwen te od-fshined (The following autobiographical s
era midway between the old-fashioned note comes from the pen of that em-
general, or community, roller towel nent fancier of the stomach-laugh,
and some new sort of individual towel Don Herold Himself.)
which a child can understand. No "When anybody is asked to write
doubt the industry is at present in- the story of his life, he always polo-
jured by petty rivalries and jeal- gizes and then starts in and writes-
ousies; I hope to live to see the day his head off. I was a poor boy. I
when there may be harmony among suffered untold hardships in my earli-I
the cloth towel manufacturers, as er years. My father ran a bank in i
there is among the grapefruit grow- Bloomfield. Indiana, but I ditinctly
ers, a wonderful day in which there rmeb , nding eugh to ea
will be standards of towel practice, hebe Ilt having enough to ea
in which there will be some restraint up to the time I left ighschool.
on towel invention, and in which the years of age I reached the pinnacle
( o toel nvetio, ad i whch heof my art career and could taw bet-
towel manufacturers may join in a ter then than I have ever drawn since.
co-operative educational campaign "When I was fourteen I had to help
under some such impelling slogan as support our family, and I worked all
'Dry Your 1Hands and Face!'"
The ch.ater nds Fait tsum m er in a printing office, for
The chapter ends with this plain- which I got one dollar and a gallon of
tive cry: "Thank God they stiserve old newspaper type. (My father told
water in faucets." me in later years that lie promised to
Very patently, Mr. H=erold has the pay the editor my wages if I did not
gift of dragging in the phrase that is earn them.) With this type I entercd
farthest from the sensible in any 'the publishing business in a corner
given connection le has, further- of our buggy shed. I printed a maga-
more, ability to end his items with zine called 'Th eFlia' for several
very snappy hookers. For instance, years, with a compulsory circulation
in the one called "The Other Half of of about 300.
Radio,"in which he describes an in- "When I finished high school, I
vention that will carry noise away wanted to go to art school, but my
and dump it in some vast empty 'space i father insisted on my going to Indiana
such as the Grand Canyon, after a University. I did go to the town in
couple of pages of praise of his de- which it is located Bloomington, In-
vice, and explanation of its divers diana, and stayed there a year but
virtues, he concludes: can hardly be said to have gone to
"Of course I realize this still leaves college that year. I stayed at the
unsolved the problem of how to do fraternity hrouse and drew pictures,
away entirely with moving pictures." and the fellows told ie of their col-
Mr. Ilerold's pictures resemble ege life, but it did not tempt oe.,
somewhat, the stilted. carefully naive Finally, my family sensed that I was
style of his text. They are like the n earnest about wanting to go to art
work of a child of five, and yet they school and they shipped me to the
are also extremely sophisticated. Chicago Art Institute where I was
Whether he is drawing or writing. he { itterliy hap'-y for the first time in my
appears wise only when his pen slips life. Baut I finally concluded to go1
I retract that la t statement and iback and take college seriously and
I returned to Indiana University and
make an exception to it. P The ePi- eventualy finished.
I grams scattered through the book i
are hardly childish. E. g.--"It is vul- After graduation I fairly leapee
gar to be any nicer any time than to fame, by a long, slow, grinding,
you are any other tine.', tedious patient process, which is only
---Elmer Sorles Loomis. half begun. I took up advertising in
1 Indianapolis on a part time basin. I
made it a rule to write at least two
AMY LOWELL'S John Keats has pages every morning whether I hadl
again suffered a delay of publication an idea or not. I did this for two I
on account of the discovery of im- or three years. Sometimes I sat forj
the demand. I ate lunch with mn- to catch, and am probably the most
zine editors and sold them manu- e ,t commuter on any of the
scripts they had previously rojected.
Personal acquaintance is everything. suburn railroads into New York. I
Ability is nothing. avoid some form of exercise regularly
"I am an enthusiastic gardener, every day. '
and the owner of a cobwebby golf "As to my writing habits, I sleep
bag. I care nothing about etchings, aein the morning, get up and rest a
but am interested in engravings issued .
by the government, and fond of wire I wyhile, write a few lines, rest, draw a
haired terriers. Last year I had 'ia ty illustration for what I have
kennels ,for three dogs in the living iltten, and r;st the remainder of the
room. I miss every train I attempt 1ay."
GRADUATES
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We have positions open in both the Buying
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Who have the necessary qualifications. Pre-
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If you are interestcd in ramkirg a connection
with a long establis.ec Investment Banking
firm, we shall be glad Eo haie you wr te to us.
Joel Sockar Co.
Penobscot bldg.,
Detroit, Michigan
a cL;i a i
C
f
flakel't Nop.
tr
portant.new material. It is announc- our hours without writing a line. Al.
ed for January. This biography is other times I was less successful. This
expected to make available a great wag torture, but I eventually learned
mass of hitherto unpublished infor- to write--whether I had an idea. or
mation. It has its nucleus in a lec- not. All these manuscripts came
ture delivered at Yale by Miss Lowell back from magazines. But finally all
in 1921. In preparing the address the at once, I sold pieces to Collier's, the'
unexpected wealth of fresh material American, and Harper's Weekly.
led her to project the volume. Then I moved to New York to answer
i
TIhe lrichiganentian deadline has been
set fcr Novemer 26th. And there's going
io Le a rush.
M. Lit ow! --your appointment for
y,- :r pijcre in the Michiganensian.
ti c lr ha3 scored great approval on
O ' a is ad. for the Michiganensian
*' -:"7 T71 1IY f '} bli h dlf-
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t
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"I
t
I
card-sharping has not a word of truth brought to Ann Arbor by
in it." With Ibanez, Mr. Lofting as- later this year.
Whimsiesj
I
i
E
1
a
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