Variety (Nov 1938)

52 VARIETY iinrEiiATt Wednesdaf, Noyember 30, IQSft Twain Still Lively Seller Crathering ol the Mark Twain A.9sn, at the Tfotel Astor, N. Y., to commemorate 103d year ot the birth of the noted scribbler, who was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, saw an impressive turnout. Announced at the meeting that winner of the association's 12th an- nual quotation contest was Mrs. A G. Karl, of San Diego, Cal. Chair- mai\ of the judges for the competi- tion was Dr. William Lyon Phelps. New officers of the association elect- ed at the meeting were Coley B. Taylor, vice-prez and Edith Burtis, Secretary. Although dead nearly 30 years, Twain is still one of the livest au- thors on the lists of his publisher. Harper's. Indicating the huge earn- ings from Twain's books is the fact that since 1910, year in which Twain died, Harper's has paid into the Twain estate nearly $1,500,000 in royalties. Annual royaltieis since the author's death have never been less than $50,000. In the year 1924-25, figure was $91,000. Figures do hot include very large royalties, from stage and screen lights to the Twain works. Total sales of Twain books have exceeded 10,000,000. Indict Annenberg, Dimitman Moe Annenberg, publisher, and Eli Zachary Dimitman, city editor of the Philly Inquirer, have been in- dicted by the November grand jury on a charge of libel growing out of the recent pollticial campaign. Suit ifa^ brought by Albert M. Green- field, banker, real estate man,, and Democratic biggie, as a result of a radio talk by Daniel J. Murphy, an attorney, 'who Was also indicted. In- quirer reprinted his speech in full. Murphy charged that, Greenfield withdrew $300,000 from the Bankers Trust Company,, which he headed, only jfive days before it closed in IdSO. Inquirer additionally printed purported facsimilies ot checks and records to prove the charges. Testi- mony given at a hearing on war- rants sworn out by Greenfield show- ed that the alleged jwithdrawar was merely a bookkeeping item, and that as a matter .of fact Greenfield was (actually poliring money into ' the bank. Murphy was also indicted on a. second count of 'stating and trans- mitting libelous statements to a pub- lisher and an editor for publication in newspapers.' No date has been set for trial. by Allen. De luxe edition runs to aroimd .50,000 copies, with popular priced edition to follow. Publication rights to a couple of light novels have also been acquired by Alleii, and he intends to publish the books early next year. Will be profusely illustrated by Zito. First volume of cartoons, 'Dogs by Zito,' published by another house, claimed a sale of around 300,000, at $2.50 per copy. Allen hopeful the follow-up will touch that figure., .New publishing activity will not keep Allen from the stage. Says he is going into a new show in. three weeks. Poetry Group's Oflicer9 Padraic Colum is the new presi- dent of the Poetry Society of America. Other officers &re; Theda Kenyon, Gordon, Lawrence and A. M. Sullivan, vice-presidents; Miles Dawson, treasurer, and Harold Vinal, secretary. Executive commit- tee comprises Marie Bullock, Kim- 3all Flaccus, Henry Goddard Leach, May Lewis, Elias Lieberman, Floyd McKnight, Emma Mills, Mary At- water and Jean Stari: Untermyer. Edwin Markham named honorary prez. Both prizes in the organization's annual poetry awards go to New Yorkers. Helen Morrow gets $100 for her Two Deers in a. Glade,' and Oscar Williams $50 for 'Wolf of Music' Earopa's English Books Expansion plans being formulated jy !Europa Books, whereby the pub- lishing house will add English- language books to its output. Has up to the present gone in for foreign- .anguage books only, publishing them here or importing them for American distribution. English-language books to be is- sued under the Europa imprint wiU se both fiction and non-fiction, ac- cording to Illes_ Scheer, the firm's lead. Not necessarily translations, }ut original works in English. Scheer, who is also the Europa Books editor, will begin- reading manuscripts as soon as arrangements for his company's expanded activ- ities can be completed. . Albany Situation Editorial employees of Frank A. Ganhett's Knickerbocker Press,' Al- bany, will, vote Dec. 5 "to determine whether the Tri-City Newspaper Guild.will represent'them in collec- tive bargaining. The Guild has withdrawn its petition for a Na- tional Labor Belations Board hear- ing, which was to have been held in Albany last week. Former employees, whose applica- tions for reinstatement to Press jobs held at the time.of the merger of morning daily and the Albany Eve- ning News, in July, 1937, are before the NXjRB, will not be counted un- til their status is finally decided. Tlie Guild had filed charges of dis- crimination ih. the merger elimina- tions. Examiner George Bokat, after hearings last winter, had recom- mended that a group of active Guilders be reinstated and The Press Co. be ordered to 'cease and desist from certain practices. Employees* Stock Worthless . , Employees of the Westliche Post, St. Louis German language., rag. Which suspended in September, will lose about $140,000 through the paper's failure, chiefiy as a result of having accepted stock, in lieu of cash, for -wages every other week during the past five years. Accord- ing to .testimony given at a bank- ruptcy hearing by Walter A. Hof- hein«, secretary-treasurer, some em- ployees will lose as much as $9,000 each... - Employees, are principal owners of $140,770 :w6,rth of outstanding stock which is considered worthless. The paper was foun?ied in 1857 and was the oldest daily in St. Louis. Sohwsrts'* New Encyo Pretentious new publishing ven- ture being imdertaken by Julius Schwartz, who gets out a number of directories, is the Biographical En cyclopaedia of America. Will be a who's who of contemporary leaders in every form of endeavor not only in the U. S. but in North America. With work only just begun, Schwartz organization has no idea as to encyc's size. Among direc tories in specialized fields now pub- lished -by the Schwartz firm are Who's Who in. the Clergy, Who's Who in Law, and Who's Who in Physicians and Surgeons. Exiles' U. S. Publisher German-language scribblers under the Nazi ban, who perforce had to turn to Swiss and Dutch publishers, "Will nc|W be able to get their books published in America in their native language. Recently formed AUi ance Book Corp. has made arrange ments with those European publish' ers issuing the works of the German exiles for American/reprint rights. Will publish them here as the Forum of German Literature.' Foxur'of the leading literary exiles from NazUand, Thomas Mann,. Rene Schickele, Franz W^rfel and Stefan Zweig. will act as an advisory com- mittee to help select the books, In the list will be not only contem- porary authors, but also those clas- sicists whose books fed the Nazi bon- fires. Books in German will be paper- bound, after the fashion of much of the literature published abroad, and will sell for much'below the standard book price here. George R. Lamade New Grit Pilot Late Dietrick Lamade, who piloted Grit, the weekly magj for over half a century, has befen succeeded as prez of the Grit Publishing Co. by George R. Lamade, one of his five sons. New vice-prez is another son, Charles D. Elder Lamade, (who died on Oct. 9 to 79), did a build-up on Grit com- parable to that of the late Cyrus H, K, Curtis with the Satevepost. When Lamade acqxiired the weekly around 1880, with a capital of ap- proximately $150, mag's circulation was less than 4,000. From then on build-up was fast, and the weqkly's present circulation is in excess of 500,000. Comic Doubles In publishiqg Lester Allen, pint-size comic, has turned book publisher forming the Allen-Kennel Publishing Co. For a starter h6 is getting out a large-sized book called 'More Dogs by Zito.' It's a collection of cartoons about dogs by the caricaturist Zito, with gag-lines NEW PERIODICALS Pastime, mag for the 'little New Yorker,' or antithesis-of those Who read the New Yorker, will debut Dec. 5. Will concern itself with the 'little New Yorker' at home, at work and at play, giving at all times a strictly unsophisticated view of Gotham's human element. Along that angle niag seeks short stories of not over 1,800 words, paragraph In- cidents, poetry of not more than 14 lines, drawings, photos and cartoons. U. S. Camera Magazine, picture quarterly, will be brought out by publishers of U. S. Camera Annual. First issue barely precedes 1939 edi- tion of the annual. Which comes out this week. New mag's editors in- clude Edward Steichen, Phillips An- drews, T. F. Mahoney, Paul Outer- bridge, Anton Bruehl, Wil^ard Mor- gan and Elmer Lasher. ' American Citizen, weekly mag hav- ing as its purpose Americanization, of :he foreign-born, is in preparation. Will be the official organ of the Na- tional. League of American Citizens of Foreign Descent, Mag will be directed by Stanford M. Shottland, Jr., John A^ Weis and Augustus G. Miller, with last-named as editor. Pair of mags being readied by Ziff- Davis Publishing Co., N. Y. There's a call out for material. Titles and aunching dates not determined as yet, but one of the periodicals will )e an adventure mag in the fantasy field and the other a pulp for weird stories. Short novels, novelettes and short stories wanted for both publi- cations. B. G. Davis to edit the pair, with Raymond A. Palmer as manag- ing ed. Band-wagon, monthly pictorial mag for jitterbugs, deals with popular music and music-makers. Special feature will be a 'song-of-the-month'. award. Published by Trojan Pub- lications. Bob Maxwell editing. Vocational Trends, monthly mag, to make .its first appearance this week, will give occupational infor- mation and statistics for the youth. Publishers are Robert K. Burns and Lyle M. Spencer, latter the son of Dr. M. Lyle Spencer, dean of the School of Journalism at Syracuse University. Strange Stories, bi-monthly fiction mag, makes its bow with a February issue^ Publisher is Better Publica- tions, affUiate of Standard Magazines, chain mag house. Edited by Leo Margulies, ed for all the other Stand- ard periodicals. Zone,, new 'little' mag being read- ied by Richard Johns for a debut early in the new year. Publication will be monthly, and will contain fiction, poetry and photographs, all pertinent to the American scene. Johns for a time edited Pagany: A Native Quarterly. Will both edit and publish Zone. Knott Knotes Now Metropolis Knott Knotes, giveaway mag dis tributed to patrons of the Knott hotels, has been acquired by Mor- rill Cody, formerly of the Literary Digest. Cody has formed Morrill Cody Publications to sponsor the mag, whose title will be Metropolis. Policy changes' planned. Marion Holbrook will edit. Periodical will continue to be dis- tributed monthly to the Knott hotel guests. Emphasis editorially will be on practical information about New York, and will include humor and photographs. Donald Fairchild will handle show news. Lansing Pushes Censorship While Jackson, Mich., turned thumbs down on a proposed ordi' nance to bar sale of obscene liter ature, Lansing, Mich., last week pre pared a new law prohibiting im moral books through licensing of dealers, a board of censors, and means for enforcement. Jackson's city attorney had de- clared that city's proposal was 'flagrantly unconstitutional' and as- serted that existing laws were ade quate to cover situation. Pub Bureau Names Aides Six directors were elected by Book Publishers Bureau, formerly the Na- tional Assn. of Book Publishers, at first annual meeting, in New York. Six, who are Curtis McGraw, How- ard C. Lewis, Alfred Knopf, Eugene Reynal, Frederick Rinehart and Paul Willert, will meet next month to choose officers for the year. Book Publishers Bureau, like its predecessor, is book trade body ser- vicing publishers. 45 Hungarian Weeklies Out Forty-five weeklies, mainly trade papers, economic journals and gos- sip pages, have been refused pub- lication permits in Hungary under the new Press Law voted by parlia- ment. It is expected that havoc will be made also among dailies. These have already started to carry out rulings of the Jewish Law and are dismissing Semites and taking on 'Aryans.' $15,000 Fire of Det. Daily Plant of Detroit Abend Post, Michigan's oldest German language daily, which recently went Into bankruptcy, was almost destroyed by fire last week. Damage placed at $l?,O0O. plant also hit by fire In February, 1930. Without missing Issue, paper Is being printed elsewhere pending re pairs. MonkH, Jr,f Suea for $10,000 John Monks, Jr., who with Fred Flnkelhoffe wrote the stage play, 'Brother Rat;' filed- suit in"^New York Friday (26) to recover .$10f000. from l^e N. Y. & Baltimore Transpor tatlon line for alleged breach of con tract. Morik$ claims he was entitled to the mohey as commission for negoti- ating the sale of the defendant's boat, •Baltimorean,' to the U. S. Govern ment for $100,000. Acquires Harbor Tag Although Harbor Press is being dissolved, name , will not pass out. Rights to the name have been ac- quired by Elizabeth W. Wood, one of the stockholders, for utilization in the near future. Publishing plans of Mrs. Wood fr«» the new Harbor Press not formulated as yet, but likely to include a num- ber of limited editions of fine books. Hearst Drops Xman Ads Space rate huliday greetings from showfolk, biz concems and city of ficials are being dropped by the Los Angeles Examiner this year. A letter sent, out by the Hearst sheet states 'do-wntown papers agreed to discontinue the practice two years ago. Not known whether the Los An- geles Times will follow suit. Tezttord's' Miniature Books Textford Press is an addition, to the ever-incteasing ranks of mihia' ture book publishers. New Pub' lishing hoiise, headed by George Cavalero, projects a number of 35' centers. Will issue books for chil- dren as well as for adults. While most of the cheapies are paper-backs, Textford books will be clothbound. Charter Book Markets Book Markets Inc. has been chart- ered to conduct a prihting-publish- mg business in Manhattan,, with a capital stock of $10,000. Directors are Maude H. Feldman and May S. Hart, 490 West End Ave., and Joseph C. Whitman, 343 W. 71st St., New York, Samuel Kornfeld filing at- torney. Frederick Prez of Tide After two years of editor of Tide, David Frederick becomes president and publisher of the mag. Succeeds Frank McCullough, former adver- tising agency exec, who's returning to the advertising biz. Editorial reins have been taken over by Ellen L. Hess. She was formerly aide to Frederick. Issues Reprints Latest publisher to turn to paper- bound books is Columbia Press, Mil- waukee publishing house beaded by H. H. Coleman. Will put out reprints of fiction only, In full length, to sell at 25c each. Coleman will give advances on ma- terial. J. Wilson Roy Dies J. Wilson R<Jy, 70, once dramatic critic of The Billboard, friend of Sir Harry Lauder, and father of Andrew M. Roy, manager of Warner Bros. Albany Strand, died in Albany, N, Y., Nov. 24, after a year's ilhiess. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he went to London as a salesman for the Lipton Tea Company and became a close associate of Sir Thomas. Later he operated a printing business in Lon- don, but disposed of this in 1903 to come to America to sell printing presses to newspapers. At the out- break of the War, he entered the newspaper field in Ohio. After his retirement as dramatic critic, Roy wrote many short stories and au- thored two. books. Wife, two sons and a daughter survive. CHATTER Mary Perkins, engaged to marry. Frances Parkinson Keyes ih from Washmgton. Peter Berns to New Orleans to dig some.color or a noveL Roxane Page Ruhl, of the Life edi- torial staff, to marry soon. William Gobert miotoring to the Coast, and may winter at CarmeL Helen W.mtz dramatizing her novel of a few seasons ago. 'Wherever XOU Go. Elizabeth Wye, fiction ed of AP's feature service, the bride of Henry A. McCashln. Ignazio Silone, still an exile in, Switzerland, may come over her* next summer. • Morris B. Werner completing m biography of the late Julius Ros^n wald, phUantliropist. Tax Publications, Inc., chartered to conduct a publishing-printing business in New York. Hector Bolitho, who took an im mediate blast at the Nazis upon com! ing over, arrived on a German boat. Bob Meusel, now writing tin pan alley items for the N. Y. WorW Telegiram, used to be a lyric writer ««tJf"°^^^?i"^'**®'^^ ""^^^ *he pub-' licatlon.of his new book of poems Yovan. Radenkovitch went to Se hosp. Marie McSwigan working on a fic- tion tome following publication of her 'Sky Hooks,' 'as told to' auto- biography of John Kane, former Pittsburgh house painter who lK! came a topfiight artist. Maury Gurin, formerly on edi- torial staff of PhUadelphia Record back in his hometown, Pittsburgh ^ to open a publicity office. Frank Case par,tied Wniself at his Algonquin to celebrate publication of his book, 'Tales of a Wayward Inn,' which is about the hostelry. First Times Square sign to adver- tise, a book is that covering four and a half stories of the,Strand hotel for Charles Cooke's novel, 'Big Show.' Subject to Antonlna. Vallentin's new. biolg, 'Leonardo Da Vinci,' was suggested by Adolph Kroch the Chi bookman, when the two met in Paris. Hy Gardner's Broadway column now runs thrice weekly in Brooklyn Eagle instead of dnce-a-week, when first started some three years ago. Harry Kodinsky, reporter on Pitts- burgh Post-Gazette, has sold a couple of true-story detective yarns to' Gang Busters for radio drama- tization. ' Margaret Mitchell, author of •Gone, etc.* will get the New York Southern Society's annual medal of • distinction at a dinner-dance at the Waldorf on Dec. 7. Harry Bauni and Salvador Nelson will do the souvenir books for the Jewish Palestine Pavilion at the World's Fair, and the professional tour of Don Budge.' Essandees publishes this week, 'We Saw It Happen,' in which a dozen special writers of the N.Y. Times tell the news behind the news of their outstanding assignments. Dr. Harvey Gaul, one-time music editor and play reviewer for Pitts- burgh Post-Gazette, now doing con- cert reviews for monthly Musical Forecast in that city. Meigs O. Frost, reporter for New Orleans States-Times-Picayune, has been decorated with Palmes Aca- demiques arid given rank of Officer d'Academie by France, National Magazines, Inc., has teen chartered to conduct a printing-pub- lishing business in New York. Mau- rice Chassaghon, Eloise Pineau and Marie J. Bulla .are directors. Seven one-acf plays by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements, ether- ized by Don Ameche and guesters, to be published by Samuel French un- der the title of 'Anigels Don't Mariy.* Re-elected as officers of the PhiUy News Photographers' Association are Norman Mevius, Ledger, prez;.New- ton Hartman, Bulletin, treasurer, and ; Denny Welsh, Fox-Movietone, secre- tary. Detroit Saturday Night, which suspended publication several months ago following financial difficiilties, resumed regular weekly editions ast week, with Fred A.. Moore as publishert Vee Lawnhurst, composer-planlst, las written a book, 'Pianoflair,' to be published Dec. 15. Book is a guide style in popular piano, and gives a ireakdown on the technique of top flight pianists. John Henimer, former president of' the New York City Press Photogs Assn., and now a resident of North Carolina, has been named chairmaa of the executive board of the new Carolinas Press Photographers Assn. Rochester Democrat & Chronicle ^ promoted Sadie Hawkins Dance link- ng with Lil' Abner comic strip as benefit show- in Convention HaU. Gals Issued summonses for their swains and stood the $1 nick at the gate. John English, Schenectady busi- ness man and publisher of th« Schenectady Suhday Sun since hi* election to the City Council three years ago, has resigned from the Council and the city's Municipal Housing Authority due to ill health. John Sullivan, former PhlUy B«c- ord sciribe, who under the Earle ad* ministration headed the State Bu- reau of Civil Rights, will enter Temple University Law School in- stead of going back to the newspaper biz-when the Republicans take over on Jan. 17.