Crockett Johnson & Ruth Krauss: biography outtakes, Part 5
Is reporting on one’s editorial process the height of self-indulgent blogging? Join us in one man’s journey to find out.
Crockett Johnson vs. Hitler
69 years ago this week, the United States entered the Second World War.  Classified 4-F (not fit for military service), 35-year-old Crockett Johnson was not called to serve.  Instead, in January of 1942, he enlisted in the Allied propaganda effort, helping found (with Greg d’Allessio, J. A. Blackmer, and Mel Casson) the American Society of Magazine
The Complete Barnaby: Coming Soon!
Cushlamochree! 70 years after Crockett Johnson‘s Barnaby made its debut, the entire ten-year run (1942-1952) will be published in full … for the first time!  Daniel Clowes will design the books – five in all, the first of which will appear in 2012. I’ll be providing biographical & historical notes.  The publisher is Fantagraphics, whose lovingly
Barnaby on the radio
The first dramatic adaptation of Crockett Johnson‘s Barnaby appeared on the Frank Morgan Show of June 12, 1945.  Morgan (best known as the title character in MGM’s Wizard of Oz) played Mr. O’Malley, Norma Jean Nilsson played Barnaby, and Ralph Bellamy played Mr. Baxter. The radio dramatization begins in the second half of the show – at 15:30 of the
Crockett Johnson & Ruth Krauss: biography outtakes, Part 4
For those who care about such minutiae, here are some outtakes from Chapter 14, “At Home with Ruth and Dave” – from which I’ve just cut 540 words. Â The chapter, which covers Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss in 1947 and 1948, draws heavily on Ruth’s 123-page account of their daily lives in late winter 1948:
Crockett Johnson & Ruth Krauss: biography outtakes, Part 3
Working in a little biography-editing while at the American Studies Association conference in San Antonio. Â (Why, yes, I would like some more workahol. Â Thank you for offering!) Â I’ve just condensed three paragraphs on Crockett Johnson‘s visit to Commonwealth College (radical labor school in Mena, Arkansas, 1922-1940) down to a single paragraph. Â For the record, that
Crockett Johnson & Ruth Krauss: biography outtakes, Part 2
One reason that so much must be thrown out from a biography – or, at least, from my forthcoming biography of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss – is that a lot of research can underwrite a very small fact. Â For example, I sometimes had to read a book in order to write a single sentence.
Crockett Johnson & Ruth Krauss: biography outtakes, Part 1
Will publishing the “outtakes” from my forthcoming The Purple Crayon and a Hole to Dig: The Lives of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss (UP Mississippi, 2012) help to promote the book or dissuade people from picking it up? Â After all, these are the bits cut from the book, not the parts that remain. Â Well, since
Barnaby. In Color.
Here is one origin story for Crockett Johnson’s classic Barnaby. At some point in early 1942, PM‘s Art Editor Charles Martin visited Crockett Johnson at his home in Darien Connecticut.  There, he saw a half-page color Sunday Barnaby strip.  Johnson had been unable to sell it.  Martin liked the strip, took it back to New York,
The Debut of Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby
As comics scholars know, Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby made its debut in New York’s Popular Front newspaper PM on April 20, 1942. Â But Barnaby and his fairy godfather Mr. O’Malley actually appeared in PM the week before. Â All during the week of April 13th, the newspaper ran ads for Crockett Johnson‘s then upcoming comic strip, Barnaby.