Rereading and Learning: More About E.B. White
E.B. White painted a New Yorker cover, Seahorse holding a bag labeled “Oats,” April 23, 1932.
J.F.K. awarded White the Presidential Medal of Freedom but was assassinated before the White House ceremony was scheduled. Maine’s Senator Muskie later presented that honor on May 29, 1964 to White at Colby College in Waterville on behalf of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
White and his wife Katharine S. White collected American humor in a huge compilation of works, A Subtreasury of American Humor, annotated by both and published in 1941. Katharine’s only published book was compiled by her husband the year she died (1977), Onward and Upward in the Garden. I loved reading and reviewing her ventures in the garden at their salt water farm on the coast in Brooklin, Maine.
E.B. White received many awards, too many to list, but a lifetime Pulitzer for E. B. White’s works was awarded in 1978. At the girls Camp Runoia on Great Pond there is an E.B. White cottage from Snug Harbor — the building was moved across frozen Great Pond by camp director Betty Cobb one winter — and placed next to The President’s House for guests at Runoia.
Virginia railroad trips through the Shenandoah Valley brought about the dream of Stuart Little, telling this story to little ones before recorded on paper.
The Seattle Times employed White for one year only, then he cruised to Alaska and Siberia. Worked his way back on board ship and then home to NY.
Camp Otter boys camp was a summer job where White was a counselor in Ontario.
During WWI, White tried to enlist but did not weigh enough.
The New Yorker wanted writers to write “we,” but White insisted on “I.”
One Man’s Meat followed a year of writing for Harper’s Magazine, when White remained in Maine for his best inspiration on the coast and at the lake.
The Trumpet of the Swan “Louis character” was named after the famed Louis Armstrong. White needed money for Katharine’s medical care, so he wrote this children’s novel quickly, not taking years of writing and rewriting like he did for Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little.
Aida piano tune played by White, music to his ears, like the tap of the typewriter at a very young age, seven or eight. He loved the blank sheet of paper rolled into the typewriter and the young boy also loved his evening journaling before bedtime. So many daily wonders to record and dream about. Animals and nature kept him curious as a child in Mt. Vernon, NY. There was a barn out back and chickens and animals of every kind. Years of thought and studies of spiders brought the world Charlotte’s Web.
So much to learn in rereading Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White by Melissa Sweet, Caldecott Honor Winner and neighbor on the coast to Martha White, granddaughter of White and editor of his works, posthumously published.
Try a favorite read for a second time this summer and relearn or experience something new from that good old story from years ago.
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