STEWART EDWARD WHITE]
_Stewart Edward White_
SIX
Readers often link the name of Jack London and Stewart Edward White.The men were of the same literary stature, though different from eachother in almost every respect. Both found inspiration in the sametheme--the struggle of man with primeval forces. In their techniquewe find the difference. There is a sharp contrast between the fire ofJack London and the held-in strength of Stewart Edward White. Whitewas once asked if it was not possible to lay hold of the heart andimagination of the public through a novel which had no human loveinterest in it--whether man matched against nature was not, after all,the eternal drama. White considered for a moment and then said: “In themain, that is correct. Only I should say that the one great drama isthat of the individual man’s struggles toward perfect adjustment withhis environment. According as he comes into correspondence and harmonywith his environment, by that much does he succeed. That is what anenvironment is for. It may be financial, natural, sexual, political,and so on. The sex element is important, of course--very important.But it is not the only element by any means; nor is it necessarilyan element that exercises an _instant_ influence on the great drama.Anyone who so depicts it is violating the truth. Other elements of thegreat drama are as important--self-preservation, for example, is a verysimple and even more important instinct than that of the propagation ofthe race. Properly presented, these other elements, being essentiallyvital, are of as much interest to the great public as the relation ofthe sexes.” These words express clearly the trend of Stewart EdwardWhite’s work.
From the beginning, Mr. White’s career has been one of promptrecognition and well-ordered prosperity. He was born at Grand Rapids,Michigan, on March 12, 1873. He attended no school until he wassixteen years of age, and yet, far from being behind his schoolmates,he entered the high school in the junior class with boys of his ownage and graduated at eighteen, president of his class. He excelled inathletics and held the long distance running record of his school. Hegraduated a few years later from the University of Michigan, and thenspent two years in the Columbia Law School, New York.
With private tutors, and then amidst the best university surroundings,Stewart Edward White’s education was obtained under advantageousauspices. He read and traveled a great deal, and had time to indulgehis love of outdoor life. His first production was a story entitled “AMan and His Dog,” and under the advice of Professor Brander Matthews,of Columbia, he offered it for publication. It was bought by _ShortStories_ for $15. This was Mr. White’s first income from literarywork. Then, after a trip to the Hudson Bay country, he wrote a storyentitled “The Claim Jumpers,” which was published in 1901 and metwith an encouraging reception. “The Westerners,” which was finishedlater, was bought for serial publication for about $500. This was adistinct advance in his literary affairs, and when “The Blazed Trail”was published in 1902, Mr. White came truly into his own. “The BlazedTrail” was written in a lumber camp in the depth of a western winter,and it was composed during the early hours from four A. M. till eight,before he put on his snow-shoes for a day’s lumbering. “The Conjurer’sHouse” came out in 1903, and in that same year “The Forest,” which Mr.White regards as one of the most instructive books he has written. Itis the story of a canoe trip. The immediate success of “The Forest”led to the writing of “The Mountains,” which told the adventures ofa camping trip in the Sierras. Then “The Mystery,” “Camp and Trail,”“The River Man,” “The Rules of the Game,” “The Call of the North,”“The Rediscovered Country,” “The Adventures of Bobby Orde,” “The GrayDawn,” “The Leopard Woman,” and other books followed. In all his bookshe told the vigorous story of life in its primitive forms. “Gold” isa picture of the madness of ’49. “The Dawn” is a story of California,“The Leopard Woman” a romance of the African wilds. In his later books,Africa became to Mr. White a very real and commanding subject--and onethat still holds him in its lure.
Mr. White produces his books fast and in highly finished form. He isessentially a realist. Human achievement, with all its vital interestand meaning, laid hold early on his imagination and gave to his storiestheir all-pervading sense of truth to life. As a critic has said,“One puts down a book by him with a feeling of having read throughexperiences, dramatic and full of romance, yet never breaking thebounds of probability--and that is fine art.” Mr. White’s home is inSanta Barbara, California, and his field of active experience includesa substantial part of the whole surface of the earth.
Mr. White entered the U. S. Service shortly after war was declared.The picture on the opposite side of this sheet shows him in uniform asMajor of U. S. Field Artillery.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 14, SERIAL No. 162 COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
THE MENTOR · DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE
Entered as second-class matter March 10, 1913, at the postoffice at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright, 1918, by The Mentor Association, Inc.
HARLEKENDEN HOUSE, THE HOME OF WINSTON CHURCHILL,CORNISH, N. H.]
The Mentor: Makers of American Fiction, Vol. 6, Num. 14, Serial No. 162, September 1, 1918 Page 7