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Elwyn Brooks White By Outline: Biography of Elwyn Brooks White Elwyn Brooks White works Elements of Style STUART LITTLE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN 'About Myself' Charlotte's Web Critics about EB Whites works Elwyn Brooks White was born in Mount Vernon, New York, as the son of Samuel White, a prosperous piano manufacturer, and Jessie (Hart) White; she was forty-one and Samuel was forty-five. Elwyn was the youngest child of a large family, where parents really loved children. On Elwyn's twelfth birthday his father wrote to him: "You are the object of the affectionate solicitude of your mother and father. Then you have been born a Christian. When you reflect that the great majority of men are born in heathen lands in dense ignorance and superstition it is something to be thankful for that you have the light that giveth life. " After graduating from Cornell University in 1921, White worked in some miscellaneous jobs, such as reporter for United Press, American Legion News Service, and the Seattle Times. In 1924 he returned to New York.
He worked as a production assistant and advertising copywriter before joining the newly established New Yorker. There he met his wife, Katherine Sergeant Angell, who was the magazine's literary editor. They married in 1929. For 11 years he wrote for the magazine editorial essays and contributed verse and other pieces. Among the other writers with whom White and his wife become friends were Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, James Thurber, and Stephen Leacock. "Walden is the only book I own, although there are some others unclaimed on my shelves.
Every man, I think, reads one book in his life, and this one is mine. It is not the best book I ever encountered, perhaps, but it is for me the handiest, and I keep it about me in much the same way one carries a handkerchief - for relief in moments of defluxion or despair. " (White in The New Yorker, May 23, 1953) From 1929 White worked for The New Yorker's weekly magazine, remaining in its staff for the rest of his career. White's favorite subjects were the complexities of modern society, failures of technological progress, the pleasures of urban and rural life, war, and internationalism. He was skeptical about organized religion, and advocated a respect for nature and simple living. White's early collections of poetry, THE LADY IS COLD (1929) and THE FOX OF PEAPACK AND OTHER POEMS (1928), reflected his interest in "the small things of the day" and "the trivial matters of the heart. " From 1938 to 1943 he wrote and edited a column called 'One Man's Meat' for Harper's magazine. These collected essays, featuring White's rural experiences, were published in 1942.
Critics hailed this as White's best book to date, but he first gained wide fame with the publication of IS SEX NECESSARY? , which he wrote with his friend and colleague James Thurber. In 1941 he published with Katherine Sergeant Angell A SUBTREASURY OF AMERICAN HUMOUR. ONE MAN'S MEAT, which appeared in 1942, and was reissued two years later in expanded form, had a nonstop run of 55 years in print. It was compiled of White's columns for Harper's with three essays from The New Yorker. In 1939 White moved to a farm in North Brooklin, Maine, and continued his writing career without the responsibilities of a regular job.
He never stopped loving New York, calling it "a riddle in steel and stone, " but he also prophetically saw the vulnerability of the city: "A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the bridges, turn the underground passages into lethal chambers, cremate millions... Of all targets New York has a certain clear priority. In the mind of whatever perverted dreamer might loose the lightning, New York must hold a steady, irresistible charm. " (from Here is New York, 1949) The barn near White's Maine home inspired many of the characters in his stories for children. After World War II White became an enthusiastic editorial supporter of internationalism and the United Nations, publishing an collection of essays under the title THE WILD FLAG (1946). In the essay 'The Ring of Time' from 1956 he dealt with segregation. He tells how he explained to his cook, who was from Finland, that in the American Southland she should sit in one of the front seats - the seats in back are reserved for colored people. "Oh, I know - isn't it silly, " was her reply and White concludes: "The Supreme Court said nothing about silliness, but I suspect it may play more of a role than one might suppose.
People are, if anything, more touchy about being thought silly than they are about being thought unjust... Probably the first slave ship, with Negroes lying in chains on its decks, seemed commonsensical to the owners who operated it and to the planters who patronized it. But such a vessel would not be in the realm of common sense today. The only sense that is common, in the long run, is the sense of change... " In 1959 White published a standard style manual for writing, THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, which became a mainstay of high-school and college English courses in the U. S. The work was based on Prof.
William Strunk Jr. 's privately printed book, which had gone out of print. White revised the original adding a chapter and expanding some of the other content. Later Strunk & White's The Elements of Style was revised several times. The famous manual, with its timeless observations, is still considered an exemplar of the principles it explains. "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary part. " White's essay?' Will Strunk', published in The New Yorker, now serves as the intro to the book. Between writing columns, White also published children's books.
STUART LITTLE (1945) depicted an independent and adventurous child, the size of mouse, who is born into a human family. After various adventures Stuart goes in search of a bird whose life he had previously saved. CHARLOTTE'S WEB (1952) was about the friendship between a young pig, Wilbur, and a spider, Charlotte A. Cavitica. She craftily saves him from the butcher's knife through the message, ''Some Pig'', she weaves in her web - only to die alone. In THE TRUMPET OF THE SWAN (1970) a mute swan learns to trumpet and becomes a celebrity.
In these works White explored such themes as loyalty, tolerance, and rural living. They have become for many young readers unforgettable guides into the world of fiction. E. B. White died of Alzheimer disease on October 1, 1985 in North Brooklin, Maine. He was awarded the gold medal for essays and criticism of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 1978.
He held honorary degrees from seven American colleges and universities and was a member of the American Academy. While he was living on his farm in Maine, E. B. 's animals inspired him to write children's books. His first book, Stuart Little, told the tale of an adventurous mouse who lived with a human family. E. B.
intended to write the story to entertain his six-year-old niece, but by the time he finished the story, she had grown up. His next book, Charlotte's Web, told the story of a friendship between a pig and a spider. E. B. found inspiration for the story by watching a big gray spider cleverly weave a web. He worked the spider into a story of friendship and salvation on a farm.
E. B. also wrote The Trumpet of the Swan, many magazine articles, and a guidebook on grammar and writing called The Elements of Style. This writer from Maine received many awards for his contributions to children's literature, including the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award presented by the American Library Association in 1970 and a special Pulitzer Prize in 1978. Leading American essayist and literary stylist of his time. White was known for his crisp, graceful, relaxed style. "No one can write a sentence like White, " James Thurber once stated.
White's stories ranged from satire to children's fiction. While he often wrote from the perspective of slightly ironic onlooker, he also was a sensitive spokesman for the freedom of the individual. Among his most enduring essays is 'Once More to the Lake. ' "I am the holder of a quit-claim deed recorded in Book 682, Page 501, in the country where I live. I hold Fire Insurance Policy Number 424747, continuing until the 23 day of October in the year nineteen hundred forty-five, at noon, and it is important that the written portions of all policies covering the same property read exactly alike. " (from 'About Myself', 1945) White's Essays presents the most interesting, readable, and instructive short pieces I have every had the pleasure of reading, first when I was a G. I. in 1941, and most recently as a retired professor in 2001 -- not to list the several readings in between.
The widely-opened mind of a great writer and observer of his world. My only regret is that I have only 5 stars to give to White's masterpiece. Charlotte's Web author E. B. White has delighted people of all ages with his essays, poems, and classic children's stories since the 1920 s. He was one of the early New Yorker writers and helped set the tone that established it as the magazine of elegant writing that it continued to be for decades.
Elwyn Brooks White graduated from Cornell University, where he was the editor of the Cornell Sun. He worked as a journalist and a copywriter in an advertising agency before joining the infant New Yorker in 1926. (Katharine Angell, who hired him, later became his wife. ) From 1938 - 43, White contributed the monthly column "One Man's Meat" to Harper's magazine. White's elegant yet informal, humorous, and humanitarian writing covered diverse subjects. Following the premature death of a pig in 1947 at the Whites' rural home in Maine, White said he wrote an essay "in grief, as a man who failed to raise his pig. " This same writing style is apparent in White's three classic children's books: Stuart Little (1945), about a mouse born to a human family and his adventures while searching for his best friend, a beautiful bird; Charlotte's Web (1952), in which a spider named Charlotte cleverly saves Wilbur the pig from death; and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970), in which a mute trumpeter swan tries to win the affection of the beautiful swan Serena. In 1957 White published an essay praising his former Cornell English professor, William Strunk Jr. , for his forty-three-page handbook on grammar -- "the little book. " White praised Strunk's attempt "to cut the vast tangle of English rhetoric down to size and write its rules and principles on the head of a pin. " A publisher coaxed the ever-modest White into reviving and revising The Elements of Style (1959), known among its users as "Strunk and White, " which has remained a fundamental text. White bolstered the original with an essay titled "An Approach to Style, " which remains a timeless reflection of the virtues of good writing. "Some of the finest examples of contemporary, genuinely American prose.
White's style incorporates eloquence without affection, profundity without pomposity, and wit without frivolity or hostility. Like his predecessors Thoreau and Twain, White's creative, humane, and graceful perceptions are an education for the sensibilities. " (Washington Post) "His voice rumbles with authority through sentences of surpassing grace. In his more than fifty years at The New Yorker, White set a standard of writer craft for that supremely well-wrought magazine. In genial, perfectly poised essay after essay, he has wielded the English language with as much clarity and control as any American of his time. " (Baymond Sokolov, Newsweek) Although he is best known for his children's books, including Charlotte's Web and the Trumpet of the Swan, author E. B. White's primary trade was the personal essay.
In this remarkable collection, White brought together the premier essays of his seventy-year career, grouped into broad themes. This collection contains a mixture of period pieces from his years at the New Yorker magazine, including "Here is New York, " and perceptive pieces on everyday events of life, such as "What Do Our Hearts Treasure?" Each essay brings a smart outlook toward life, an incredible ability to describe ordinary events vividly, and the melancholy and sentimental perspective that dominated White's life. This is undoubtedly the finest collection of American essays in the twentieth century. Beloved by generations, Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little are two of the most cherished stories of all time. Now, for the first time ever, these treasured classics are available in lavish new collectors' editions.
In addition to a larger trim size, the original black-and-white art by Garth Williams has been lovingly colorized by renowned illustrator Rosemary Wells, adding another dimension to these two perfect books for young and old alike. Whether one is returning once again to visit with Wilbur, Charlotte, and Stuart, or giving the gift of these treasured stories to a child, these spruced-up editions are sure to delight fans new and old. The interior design has been slightly moderated to give the books a fresh look without changing the original, familiar, and beloved format. Garth Williams's original black-and-white line drawings for the jacket of Stuart Little have also been newly colorized by the celebrated illustrator Rosemary Wells. These classics return with a new look, but with the same heartwarming tales that have captured readers for generations. Charlottes web is the book is about the friendship of love and trust with Fern (a girl) & Charlotte, a wonderful spider trying to save Wilbur, a bored & lonely pig from death.
Ferns father is trying to kill Wilbur, but Fern asks her father not to kill the pig, so she could look after it and raise it. But then, one day Ferns father told her that Wilbur has to go and stay with some other animals, but (of course) Fern gets upset. Then Wilbur met Charlotte, so can Fern and Charlotte save Wilbur. This book, because it is full of life, it has got likeable characters (described very well) and a really exciting plot. The book can be called a classic. Charlottes Web shows the true value of friendship.
This book is recommended to children over 8 years old & adults and anyone who loves animal stories. E. B. White is well-known as the author of Charlotte's Web, but few people realize he qualifies as a fantasy writer.
Writing from the perspective of animals is a classical fairy tale motif, the essence of most children's fantasy. But rather than argue White's place as a fantasy author, I would like to argue his place as a children's author. These were some of the very first non-picture books I read (though many versions contain some black and white drawings), and I can still recall to this day (15 years later) details of the plots and characters. I like to think the moral lessons stuck with me as well. Not only White's settings and characters, but also his writing style remain unique and beautiful. So if you " re looking for something to give your 8 - 12 year old that both of you will enjoy, try these.
They can also be appropriate for even younger ages; my four-year-old sister is in love with Charlotte's Web. One of the Whites books is an elegy to America's greatest machine (obit 1927), which White saw as embodying national virtues - "hard-working, commonplace, heroic"; the second is an account of an epic journey by Tin Lizzie in 1922. When he says the Ford's planetary gearbox is "half metaphysics, half sheer friction" we have a line of poetry about the entire automobile phenomenon. When White writes "To an American, the physical fact of the complete America is, at best, a dream, a belief, a memory and the sound of names, " he tells us exactly what the car allowed us to discover. EB White is dedicated "To Henry Ford." We all are. Bibliography: 'About Myself', , E.
B. White 1945 Baymond Sokolov, Newsweek Charlotte's Web, , E. B. White (1952) Jonathan Yardley, San Francisco Examiner Here Is New York, , E. B. White 1949 Stuart Little, , E.
B. White (1945) Trumpet Of The Swan, , E. B. White (1970) Washington Post, Publication on EB White Wild Flag, E.
B. White (1946). White In The New Yorker, May 23, 1953
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