Wolcott Gibbs
Wolcott Gibbs | |
---|---|
Born | Oliver Wolcott Gibbs March 15, 1902 New York City, U.S. |
Died | August 16, 1958 Ocean Beach, New York, U.S. | (aged 56)
Occupation(s) | Editor, critic, playwright, author |
Spouses | Helen Marguerite Galpin
(m. 1926, divorced)Elizabeth Ada Crawford
(m. 1929; died 1930)Elinor Mead Sherwin (m. 1933) |
Wolcott Gibbs (March 15, 1902 – August 16, 1958) was an American editor, humorist,
He was a friend and frequent editor of John O'Hara, who named his fictional town of "Gibbsville, Pa." for him.[citation needed]
Early life
Gibbs was born in New York City on March 15, 1902.
His paternal grandparents were Francis Sarason Gibbs and Eliza Gay (née Hosmer) Gibbs and his maternal grandparents were Edward Alexander Duer and Sarah Anna (née Vanderpoel) Duer. He was a descendant of mineralogist
After the death of his father and his mother's alcoholism, Gibbs and his sister were sent to live with his uncle and aunt, John Van Buren and Aline Duer. He attended various schools, including
Career
After failing his school exams, Gibbs began a series of dead-end jobs including working as a timekeeper, a chauffeur, a draftsman, and four years on the freight crew of the
Although not a regular member of the Algonquin Round Table,[6] Gibbs was closely associated with many of its leading names, inheriting the job of theatre critic at The New Yorker from Robert Benchley in 1938.[1] Because his years at the magazine largely overlapped with those of the better-known Alexander Woollcott, many people have confused them or assumed they were related. In fact, Gibbs was a cousin of Alice Duer Miller – yet another member of the Algonquin set – but he was not a relative of Woollcott's.[7] On numerous occasions, in print and in person, Gibbs expressed an intense dislike for Woollcott as both an author and as a person. In a letter to James Thurber, in fact, Gibbs wrote that he thought Woollcott was "one of the most dreadful writers who ever existed." Thomas Kunkel asserts in his biography of New Yorker founder Harold Ross, Genius in Disguise, that a profile of Alexander Woollcott written by Gibbs sparked the disassociation of Woollcott and the magazine.[8]
For many years, Gibbs was also the editor and publisher of The Fire Islander a weekly newspaper on Fire Island, where he had a vacation home.[9][10]
Personal life
Gibbs was married three times. His first marriage was on July 24, 1926, to Helen Marguerite Galpin, the daughter of William Galpin (an English butler who worked for
After Elizabeth's death, he began a nearly three-year relationship with writer Nancy Hale, who was then married to Taylor Scott Hardin. Hale refused to leave Hardin for Gibbs (although she did eventually divorce Hardin and married Charles Wertenbaker and, later, Fredson Bowers).[2] He then met his third, and final, wife, whom he married in 1933; Elinor Mead Sherwin (1903–1963), daughter of architect Harold Sherwin of the Sherwin-Williams paint family.[12] Together, they were the parents of two children:[2]
- Wolcott Gibbs Jr. (b. 1935),[13] known as "Tony," who married Elizabeth Villa in 1958.[14] He has written extensively about yachting and was an editor at The New Yorker for several years in the 1980s.[citation needed]
- Janet Gibbs, who married James Ward.[12]
An alcoholic and heavy smoker, he died of a heart attack while reading proofs of his upcoming book, More in Sorrow, on August 16, 1958, at his home on Ocean Beach, Fire Island.[1] He was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. His widow died on July 30, 1963, of burns she received in a fire at her New York home, 352 East 50th Street.[12]
Legacy
On October 11, 2011, Bloomsbury USA released the anthology "Backward Ran Sentences: The Best of Wolcott Gibbs of The New Yorker" (
Bibliography
Articles
- Gibbs, Wolcott (November 28, 1936). "Time... Fortune ... Life ... Luce". The New Yorker. pp. 20–25.[15]
- — (January 1, 1949). "Well, Happy New Year anyway". Theatre. The New Yorker. Vol. 24, no. 45. pp. 34–37.[16]
- — (January 8, 1949). "Giraudoux, Porter, and Guitry". Theatre. The New Yorker. Vol. 24, no. 46. pp. 48–53.[17]
- — (January 7, 1950). "Miss George, Master White, and Dr. Goldsmith". Theatre. The New Yorker. Vol. 25, no. 46. pp. 44–46.[18]
- — (January 21, 1950). "Eliot and others". Theatre. The New Yorker. Vol. 25, no. 48. pp. 47–50.[19]
- — (February 4, 1950). "Miss Hepburn in Arden". Theatre. The New Yorker. Vol. 25, no. 50. pp. 48–52.[20]
Fiction
- Gibbs, Wolcott (January 15, 1949). "The life and death and life of George Whitehouse". The New Yorker. Vol. 24, no. 47. pp. 24–26.
- — (1931). Bird life at the Pole. By Commander Christopher Robin as told to Wolcott Gibbs; pictures by Bruton & Bruton. New York: William Morrow.
References
- ^ a b c d e Times, Special to The New York (August 17, 1958). "Wolcott Gibbs, 56, Drama Critic, Dies; WOLCOTT GIBBS, 56, DRAMA CRITIC, DIES" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ ISBN 9780393248746. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ISBN 9781317362265. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ a b Reitwiesner, William Addams. Ancestry of George W. Bush http://www.wargs.com/political/bush.html Accessed April 25, 2015.
- ^ Browning, Charles Henry. Americans of Royal Descent: A Collection of Genealogies of American Families Whose Lineage is Traced to the Legitimate Issue of Kings. 1891, Page 121.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (November 13, 2015). "A 'Cast of Characters' and 'Crooked Brooklyn'". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Boylan, James. "Brief Encounters | Reviewing anthologies on food in wartime reporting and the best of Wolcott Gibbs". Columbia Journalism Review (January / February 2012). Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Gelb, Arthur (October 15, 1950). "CRITIC IN THE SPOTLIGHT.; Wolcott Gibbs May Be Kinder Reviewer as A Result of 'Sun'" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Weintraub, M.D., Soloman (August 21, 1958). "Tribute to Wolcott Gibbs" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Zolotow, Sam (June 6, 1951). "Comedy Planned by Wolcott Gibbs; on Neighborhood Tour" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ "WOMAN ENDS LIFE; BROODED OVER PLAY; Writer Leaves a Discussion of "Death Takes a Holiday" and Plunges 17 Stories. OFFERED NO EXPLANATION Wolcott Gibbs, Her Husband, Says She Showed Morbid Tendency in Talking of Drama" (PDF). The New York Times. April 1, 1930. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Mrs. Wolcott Gibbs" (PDF). The New York Times. July 31, 1963. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ "Son to Mrs. Wolcott Gibbs" (PDF). The New York Times. April 7, 1935. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Special to The New York Times (January 5, 1958). "Elizabeth Villa Wed to Wolcott Gibbs Jr" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
- ^ Profile of TIME editor Henry Luce, written in a parody of TIME's style.
- John van Druten's "Make Way for Lucia"; "Oh, Mr. Middlebrook!" at the John Golden Theatre; Jean Kerr's "Jenny Kissed Me" at the Hudson Theatre.
- ^ Reviews Jean Giraudoux's "The Madwoman of Chaillot" at the Belasco Theatre; Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate" at the New Century Theatre; Sacha Guitry's "Don't Listen, Ladies" at the Booth Theatre.
- ^ Reviews Rosemary Casey's "The Velvet Glove"; Sarett and Herbert Rudley's "How Long Till Summer?"; Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer".
- ^ Reviews T. S. Eliot's "The Cocktail Party".
- Mansfield Theatre.
Further reading
- James Thurber, The Years With Ross, 1959
- Brendan Gill, Here at The New Yorker, 1975
- Thomas Kunkel, Genius in Disguise: Harold Ross and The New Yorker, 1994
- "Whirlwind Gibbs" by Thomas Vinciguerra, The Weekly Standard.
- The Gibbs Family of Rhode Island, by George Gibbs V, NY 1933