Variety (Aug 1938)

VARIETY LITERATI Wednesday, August 31, I93J Hearst Chi Baf M»y .T»b Reports' . again rife concernine Hearst's Chicago Herald and Ex- aminer going tab. Morning sheet re- cently was divorced from business ofTice merger,with Evening Ameri- can, Joseph V. Connbily, new presi/Jeht of Hearst newspa|jers, is in Chi cur- rently. One of his first moves was to bring Harry Reid back as city editor on the Her-Ex. Chi Tribune, anticipating the Her- Ex going tab, has already printed wagon signs announcing the Trib as the 'only morning newspaper in Chi- cago.' If the Her-Ex goes tab, it is expected that the Sunday edition will remain standard sized. Stern Asks Oalld Parley Following 25 'economy' firings in the past twb weeks, J. David Stetn, publisher of the Philadelphia Record, last week formally notified the Guild that he wished to :reopeh negotia- tions on the clause in the contract prohibiting wage cuts. An emergency meeting of. the Guild unit was immediately called on Friday (26) and a committee named to flght both the wage cuts and further flrings. A previously- named cdmrnittiee, to protest dismis- sals already made, has had oiie meet- ing with Stern so far, but obtained no satisfaction . other than that he 'miscalculated' the increase - in in- come that could be expected when the price of the paper w,as tilted from two to three coits this' spring. Unit at the emergency meeting recommended that the Guild's gen- eral meint>ershlp raise a $8,000 war chest to prevent fiirther cannings or wage' slashes. "There was consider- able private discussion of strike pos-. sibilities, but ^no formal mention on the floor. Detroit Ctoss Weekly S«M Goodwill and name of the Detroit Saturday Night, 30-year-old '.class weekl/> which ~ went - bankrupt last May 23, brought $625 at public auc- tion last 'week - in Detroit David, Risenari, the buyer, IdnH indicate whether he would continue'use of th;. sheet's name. Furniture and fixtures of the paper's offices, appraised at $1,421, were sold in parcels for $1,364. New FmsIbiU* Ubrary New project of Alexander J. Hammerslough, who heads the book- publishing houses of Geo^gic Press and Paisley Press, is the Facsimile Library to' make available those books out of print for which there may be a renewed demand. Publishers generally reluctant to place an out-of-print book .on the presses again upon an occasIona^caU for the volume; as even a mini- mum ' press . run is unprofitable^ Hammerslough's idea,, however! is to reproduce, such books by a pho- tographic process in editions of. 500. Book thus reissued would sell at the former published price, Mec essary, however, for advance sub scriptions of two-thirds of such an edition before a book will be re- Issued. tcred and the business moved to the Little & lyes quarters. Regular, business of the publishing company is being continued from there, ex- cept that' contemplated new books on' the^flrm's list are being withheld for the* time being. ,. In. charge of Cbvicl, Friede, at least until the organization's future is definitely decided upon, is Meyer Bell, Pascal Covici went out short- ly after the firm got into difticulties and connected with Viking Press, taking with him John Steinbeck, the ace scribbler on his list, Donald Fri e quit the company some time ago. Deane's Past Albert Dcane, head of foreign ad- vertising-publicity for Paramount, has been made a member of the boaid of governors for the House Magazine Institute of America. This institute Is organized for the purpose of setting up better house organs or . publications in the business world. In Merobriain Last week's issue of the Con- necticut Nutmeg carried an article, 'Birds Land—Aviators Alight,' by Frank Hawks, Mag .was out the day the flyer was killed in a plane crash in up- state New York, In the article Hawks stated that he hoped to give up flying and become a writer. Piece was written by the aviator at the spliciution of George T. Bye, litarery agent and a co- editor of the mag, whose sum- mer home is near that of Hawks, at Redding, Conn. Soreea 'Guide on Coast With Carl Schroeder appointed editor-in-chief; Screj.» Guide wiU be edited in the Coast offices, making it the only, fan publi.iatipr actually readied for. printing in Hollywood. For thi-ee years Schroeder has been western editjr of Annenberg Publications' Screen Guide, Click, Waltan Syndicate and Philadelphia Inquirer's roto section. Herb Breg- steln will be his ex iciitive assistant Boehester News Ads Up After withholding advertising from the newly - established Rochester (N. y.) Evening News for nix weeks, downtown theatre managers have reached an agreement effective Sept. 1, which includes plenty of promo- tion on. the sheet's theatre pages. ' Managers hope to . use this as a wedge to brighten the ' amusement pages of the other dalUes, holding they are too cut and dried and' not responsive' to efforts to whet reader interest B'klyM Protestant Paper Stock sale has begun for a new secular newspaper, the Protestant Post, to be published out of Brook- lyn in the interest of the Protestant church. Hoped to make the news- paper a pretentious affair, and an impressive editorial board is being lined up. Frank R. Heinze has 'quit the edi- torial staff of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to assume the editorship of the hew newspaper. Vlrdbne's Fine Arts Pubs Back from an extended stay on the Coast, Paul C. 'Virdone is be- coming a book publisher in New York under the name of Fam Pub- lishers, which is specializing in books oh fine arts. No fiction, but will issue books on painting, music, poetry and the like, including an annual. Fine Arts Manual, record- ing the works and biogs of Ainer- Ican brush-wielders. Editorial, board of Fam Publish- ers will be headed jointly by Lcia Atkins and Catherine 'Virdone. Covici. Friede Fatnre Weighed Future of Covici, Friede,. New ■York, will be definitely decided upon within the next two weeks. Very little likelihood that Little & Ives,' the N. Y. book printers, who control the book publishing; com- pany's assets, will continue bper*- Bting the publishing firm, as' the printing house wants no part of the publishing biz if it can help it. Best possibility is that the Covici, Friede assets will be sold to another pub- lishing concern. Offices of Covici, riede are shut- J. H. Smyth'tf Takeover Ninety-four-year-pld mag, "The Living Age, has been acquired by J. H. Smyth,, who has formed the J. H. iSmyth Publishing Co., N. Y., to continue its publicattoh. Pub- ilshing offices have t>een moved to midtown from the Park Row quar- ters occupied by the periodical tor years. Intention of the new .publisher, who will also edit is to expand the scope of The Living Age. J. H. Smyth is not to be confused with another publisher, J. Henry Smythe. Prof. Phelps Agala Picks 'Em Citing chilly reception accorded books by recognized authors last, year. Dr. 'William Lyon Phelps' Sun- day night (28) rendered his annual opinion of the year's outstanding books at Pointe Aux Barques, Mich. Dr. Phelps, professor emeritus of English liteirature at Yale,, described Mary Ellen Chase's.'Dawn in Lyoii- essie' as the 'finest American hovel of the year,' but pointed but that not a single book, in England or Amer- ica, dominated the field' as- 'Gone With the Wind' did in 1936 and 'An- thony Adverse' in 1933. Dr.: Phelps, \yho gives the annual review for benefit of Hubbard Me- morial Hospital, founded by his brother-in-law, termed the following as leaders . among the 'books I en- joyed most during the year': Gen- eral literature, J. M. Barrie's The Green Hat' and 'Autobiography of W. 'B. Yeats'; nbvels, 'Dawn in Lyohesse,' Robert Nathan's 'Barley Fields' and Marjorie Rawlings' The Yearlings'; poetry, Leonard Bacon's 'BuUinger Bound' and M, M, Whit- ing's 'Into Another Spring.* Teachlnr 'Em Mow Latest publication of the Amateur (Cinema League is 'Featuring the Family,* by Jaines W. Moore,' head of the continuity department. One of the series designed to' teach the amateur camera addicts how to shoot and get away from the hackneyed. Booklet contains four' suggestive scripts and two treatments, all in- tended to wean the beginners away from trite cinematography. Intended for Ibague ntcmbcrs Only. It's help- ful and intelligent. Annenberg's Phllly Reversion Report.s prevalent in Philadelphia that M. L, Annenberg,' publisher of the Inquirer, will revert to- selling the paper for 2c. He had an-agree- ment with 'other sheets on tilting to 3c.. inaugurated last spring, Anncnberg's new policy indicated a general circulation war in Philly. NEW PERIODICALS Harlan Logan, whose Harlan Lo gan Associates recently acquired the | mag Scribner's, from, the book-' publishing company of Uie same name, is reputedly at work on a new mag. Associated with Logan in the new undertaking are Thomfis Diehl and William Devitelis. Enter- prise will be a Separate entity under the. name of the D. & L. Publishing Co.- New project being kept under wraps by Logan for the time being, but he admits • 'a new magazine might result.' Although many of the pulp mag publishers are holding new mag projects in al>eyance until the fall, Ace Magazines and its affiliate. Maga- zine Publishers, bringing out three new publications now; Trio are Variety Novels, All Novels and Eerie Ii^sterles, all under the editorship ot Harry,Widher.-. Ace Magazine publishers has a number of other new periodicals, in the making, to appear soon. Growing interest, in astrology, nu- merology, palmistry,' graphology and mysticism in general resulting in an ever-increasing number of new mags on the subject Latest is True Mys- tic Science, gotten out by the Conti- nental News, Inc., of Minneapolis. A monthly, the new periodical will cover the. entire field of mysticism. R. T. Maitland Scott editing. 'Teddy Epsteini who . publishes a string of publications, also contem- plating a mag on astrology. Plans for this oiie not completely formu- lated as yet Lex Publications is a new mag publishing firm which has acquired five periodicals as the nucleus of a chain of pulp and slick-paper inagis. They are: Movie Humor, High Heel Stories, Silk Stocking Stories, Psychology and Psychology Digest- Acquisition of the quintet In- volves no editorial changes. There's marked activity Ih the juve' publishing field, besides the plans of the Curtis Publishing Co. to get out a new mag. Jack and Jill. Parents' Magazine issuing a bne- shot called Best Stories for Boys and Girls. Reprint and pocket-sized. If response warrants, it w>ll go into regular publication, using either re- prints, new "pieces, or both. Child Life has taken on a new editor, Wilma ;k. McFarland, and the periodical will be stepped up to meet the growing,competition in the field. Fickleness of the mag-reading public has caused publishers of Bal- lyhoo to turn if into a quarterly. Initial appearance of the mag was tremendously received, a magazine debut repeated since only by Life, Sponsors, unprepared for such a re- ception, could hardly fill the de- mand. But demand soon enough began to taper off, and circulation has re- putedly continued to fall ever since. Now, as a quarterly. Ballyhoo occu- pies a very modest spot. Latest addition to the ever-grow- ing number ot mag publishing houses is Hillman Periodicals, which starts off with Crime Detective as the fiirst of a string of new periodicals, which will include a confession story mag and a film fan publication. Editing Crime Detective, and slated to serve as editor-in-chief for the group of periodicals contemplat- ed by the new firm, is Lionel White. He formerly edited Triiei for Faw- cett, and prior to that he guided Real Detective and Others. President of Hillman Periodicals is Alexander Hillman, also a member of the book-publishing firm of Hill- man-Curl. Harold Bross, of the Van Recs Press, the book printers, is secretary. And ho.w it's a mag for butlers, called the Butlers Magazine, and in- tended as a chatter and n^ws ex- change for the real-life Arthur Treachers from Park avenue to Sunr set boulevard. Ihevitaible, of course, that the initial, issue carry on its coyer a photo of Arthur Treacher, tops in biitlers, even if he' only screen-acts at it, Butlers Magazin itbrs, Ciiarles Moody, Henry Brooks, Joseph Backhouse, Albert Carter and Sidney Godden. Moody and Brooks also in on the publishing end. Five understood to be experU on ev«ry angle, of buttling: Oddly enough publication bitices are in the Bronx, where they only , know butler as the name of a grocery chain. Initial issue of Nlghtt Life, monthly mag devoted to New York cafes, will; abpear this week, Wiljiam H. Jones publishes with-AHred B: Stenzel edit- ing. Georee Macy's Clubbliig George Macy is by way of becom- ing a specialist in book clubs. Or- ganizing a third, the Nonesuch Fel- lowship, and will sell those volumes produced by the Nonesuch Press. Two other book clubs operated by Macy are the Llinited Editions. Club and the Heritage Book Club. LITERA'n OBITS THIS WEEK. George W. Galdilk, 52, and his son, Michael, 15, were drowried Aug. 20, when their boat capsized in a sud- den squall several miles off Highland Park, 111. Father, a former Olympic diving champion, was columnist for Chi- cago Journal- of Cominerce. Frederick Mitchell Miinroe, 80, founder of 'Town and Country, wjiich he published for years, died Aug. 29 in . Hempstead, L, I. Surviving are three children and six grandchildren, Carter Warner Wormeley, 62, for- mer newspaper man and at the time of his death director of publicity and advertising for the SUte of Virginia, died at his home in Richmond, Aug. (24) after ah illness of several weeics. Last rites ivere in Richmond. Wormeley started newspaper work with the Richmond Journal and went from there to the Richmond News- Leader. He entered the service. of the state during the term of Gov- ernor Ei liee .Trinkle, as director of publicity. He was made pbet laureate by act of the General Assembly. One of his poems is on bronze at Natural Bridge, show place of Virgi ia, CHATTEB . Zona Gale is 64, Virginia Lovenbw to winter In Italy. Warner Bellwood shopping for a trailer. Irvin S. Cobb is finishing his book, 'Mostly About Me.' Elizabeth Corbett likes New York as a summer resort. Dick Williams, selling sports stuff regularly tb Liberty. Donald Henderson Clarke has a new novel coming but in the fall. Albert Maltz.will lecture on play- wrlghting at New York University. Hermann Hagedom completing his biog of Edwin Arlington Robinson. Ben.Lucien Burman doing a series on the Mississippi for the Satevepost Frederic F. Van de Water elected second constable of his home town. Virginia Griggs uses a dictaphone because she can't learn to use a type- writer, Carlton Smith's yarn on swing music to appear in November issue of Esquire. Charles M. Brown sold Kis story. The Entangling Web,' to Cosmo- politan. E. B, White, of the New Yorker, going over to Harper's to do a column. The Merle Armitage book about George Gershwin is down for Oc- tober publication, Bennett Cerf (Random House) to London on biz right after Labor Day. To be gone a month. Elliott Beach Macrae, one ot the execs of Dutton, will wed Marjorie Knight the authoress. Theodore McLarnin, back from Paris, says all the scribblers are now living in Carmel, N. Y. After all. these years as a non-fic- tion scribbler, Clarence Dirks has sold his first short'story.. D; D. Beauchamp sold his story. 'Gcarjammer,' to Collier's and 'Point of View' to American mag. Margaret Hill McCarter^ Kansas author, is critically ill in a Topeka hospital from heart ailment Jacob Handelsman is entering the book publishing field via the Veritas Publishing Corp., New York. Bums Mantle has written a book, •Contemporary American Play- wrights." Dodd, Mead will publish. Ted LeBerthon, Hollywood col- umnist for. the L.A. Evening' News, switched back to his old job, cover- ing night court. Title of For Men Only has been shortened to For Men, Publishers have a suspicion that women read the mag anyway, Stephen Slesinger closed a deal to serialize Bi(ck Jones' life in the Big Little Book series for Whilni ub- lishlng company. Jitterbugs musicians when the kids frankly in vite them to 'tea pad' parties, on the road. While the reefer, habit is"said to have stemmed from the Harlem musicians and the super 'ride' men in the swing bands, the manner in which the jitterbugs have assim- ilated things is the problem. From that comes the thought that maybe this growing craze of swing- plbgy, which shows no sign of abate, ment portends some freak phenom- enon in contemporaneous Americana. Maybe it means nothing more than an advanced jazzique. percolating into the advanced syncopation stand- ards of the land. But the hookup between , the kids' peculiar actions on the road, while the dance bands have been filling the onernighter commitments, is somethipg else, again. In line with this trend of thought, Arthur Murray, whq should kno\v his dance styles, observes (1) that- dansapation styles and war talk seem to have some sort of an affin- ity; and: (2), war talk, has usually made for more and more freak com- munity dancing.- Murray, who is a foremost dancing. master,, harks back to 1912-14, the period just before the World War, when' more new freak dance steps were boriii Then, top, the .Paul Jones' and 'shine' type of community dancing held forth. 'Today, it runs the gamut from big apple to Lam- beth Walk; from the jeep dance to pealin' the peach. rbngs Riot- Chicago, Aug. 30. Jitterbugs had their day when the largest crowd in . swing Jiistory packed Soldier's Field last week (23), More than 200,000 ickeys got out bi: control of the ushers and nearly 1,000 pbiiciEmen. Four name bands- and nearly 1 amateur swihg- wielders took part in the jamboree put on by Chicago's new Century Committee and sponsored by the Ub Chi Times. Swingfest got under way as Jimmy Dorsey and his band wafted the jamboree's theme song 'Flat Foot Floogee.' By the second chonw, the crowd stampeded and swarmed 'Ver Soldier's field, making it almost im- possible for Abe Lyman's orch, with Ethel Shutta, Earl 'Father' Hines* and Bob Roberts' bands to follow. , Only Bill Robinson was able to rer store any semblanc^ of order; but as soon as he left sporadic fist-fights were in order. At one a.m. it was all over, and officials who had put on the Show niiittered 'Neyer again. Times scored a victory over the Tribune when the swing-session Jam- boree at the Stadium drew over 200,000, or nearly twice as many a^ the Trib's musical festival a week ago. Of course, the Trib charged admish, whereas jamboree, put. on by eiiicago New (ientury committee, was gratis; Trib had spent a fortune in space and money to put over the Festival, whereas the Times went lor only a few columns of editorial space, and developed the jamboree into the biggest promotional stunt ot its kind in the city's history. Day following the affair, Trib panned the show. WON, Tribune affiliate, refused to broadcast the swing-fest although it was strictly of a civic nature. WMAQ attempted to broadcast the show, but only man- aged to get Abe Lyman on the air. Amateur swing band contest, which the Chicago Greater Century Committee was to have held in Sol- dier's Field last week, will be heia Thursday (1) behind locked, doors in the Navy Pier instead. No <)ne, other, than actual members of .the « bands, will be permitted , to enter. This precauUon follows the tre- mendous crush which mobbed Sol- dier's Field last week in the open-air and made it impossible for any sem- blance of a contest to be held. Be- sides ruining some $4,000 worth ot turf the 100,000 jam of people over- ran the field and wrecked about »^,- 000 worth of the amateurs mstfu- ments, N. T. Harvest oon Sellout New York Daily News' annual promotion stunt, the Harvest Moon, was a sellout a couple aay^^X^t tickets went on sale. The dancefest tonight (Wednesday) at Madison sq. Garden plays to 20,000 peoP>?. tickets can't be had at a Premium- Ed Sullivan, the News' HollywotHj columnist came in f om to m. c. He'll also appear ,with jn^ winners at Loew's State. N. C""' mencing tomorrow (Thursday)-