ABOUT THIS BOOK

Revealing episodes in the life of the elusive writer, as told by acquaintances

This book collects reminiscences by contemporaries, friends, and associates of Stephen Crane that illuminate the life of this often misunderstood and misrepresented writer. Although Crane is widely regarded as a major American author, conclusions about his life, work, and thought remain obscure due to the difficulties in separating fact from fiction. His first biographer recorded mostly vague impressions and, to mythologize his subject, invented a multitude of the episodes and letters used in his account of Crane’s life. Subsequent biographies were either cursory summations or compendiums of verifiable facts. Crane himself was both reclusive and mercurial, protective of his inner life while projecting a variety of personae to suit others.

A flamboyant personality and close friend of writers such as William Dean Howells, Henry James, and Joseph Conrad, Crane made telling impressions on his contemporaries. They often constitute the best assessments of Crane’s own personality and work. The 90 reminiscences gathered here offer a much-needed account of Crane’s life from a variety of viewpoints, as well as important information about the contributors themselves.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Paul Sorrentino was the Clifford A. Cutchins III Professor of English at Virginia Tech and author of Stephen Crane: A Life of Fire, coauthor of The Crane Log: A Documentary Life of Stephen Crane, 1871–1900 and coeditor of The Correspondence of Stephen Crane.

REVIEWS

“ . . . a valuable contribution to Crane studies. . . . Sorrentino’s comments are likely to sharpen critical thinking in biographical scholarship and contribute to strengthening courses concerning methods of biographical study.”
—Stephen Crane Studies

“I was especially struck by the ‘pictures’ of Crane in New York City living among the young illustrators and painters, of Crane in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and of Crane at Brede Place, as a neighbor of Wells and James.”
—George Monteiro, author of Stephen Crane’s Blue Badge of Courage
— -

“For many years the truth about Crane's life was difficult to ascertain, first, because Crane (1871-1900) was contradictory and evasive about himself and, second, because his first biographer, Thomas Beer, fabricated many details in his eponymous book about the writer (1923). The most reliable biography remains R. W. Stallman's Stephen Crane: A Critical Biography (CH, Jul’73). The current volume complements that one and will help the reader understand Crane better as man and writer. Sorrentino has collected 90 reminiscences from some 60 individuals who knew Crane--family members, friends, neighbors, and fellow writers and editors. Among the more familiar names found here are Hamlin Garland, Willa Cather, Ford Maddox Ford, and H. G. Wells. The occasional particular reminiscence is suspect, but Sorrentino provides sufficient information to contextualize its value. Highly recommended.”
—CHOICE
— -

“ . . . a valuable contribution to Crane studies. . . . Sorrentino’s comments are likely to sharpen critical thinking in biographical scholarship and contribute to strengthening courses concerning methods of biographical study.”
—Stephen Crane Studies

“I was especially struck by the ‘pictures’ of Crane in New York City living among the young illustrators and painters, of Crane in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, and of Crane at Brede Place, as a neighbor of Wells and James.”
—George Monteiro, author of Stephen Crane’s Blue Badge of Courage
— -

“For many years the truth about Crane's life was difficult to ascertain, first, because Crane (1871-1900) was contradictory and evasive about himself and, second, because his first biographer, Thomas Beer, fabricated many details in his eponymous book about the writer (1923). The most reliable biography remains R. W. Stallman's Stephen Crane: A Critical Biography (CH, Jul’73). The current volume complements that one and will help the reader understand Crane better as man and writer. Sorrentino has collected 90 reminiscences from some 60 individuals who knew Crane--family members, friends, neighbors, and fellow writers and editors. Among the more familiar names found here are Hamlin Garland, Willa Cather, Ford Maddox Ford, and H. G. Wells. The occasional particular reminiscence is suspect, but Sorrentino provides sufficient information to contextualize its value. Highly recommended.”
—CHOICE
— -

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Acknowledgments 000
Introduction 000
Part 1. Port Jervis, Hartwood, Asbury Park
1. Edmund B. Crane 000
2. Mrs. George Crane 000
3. Wilbur F. Crane 000
4. Carl F. Price 000
5. Post Wheeler 000
6. Arthur Oliver 000
7. Willis Fletcher Johnson 000
8. Helen R. Crane 000
9. Edna Crane Sidbury 000
10. Anna E. Wells 000
Part 2. School and College
11. Abram Lincoln Travis 000
12. Harvey Wickham 000
13. Ernest G. Smith 000
14. Frank Noxon 000
15. Mansfield J. French 000
16. Clarence N. Goodwin 000
17. William McMahon 000
18. Clarence Loomis Peaslee 000
19. George F. Chandler 000
Part 3. New York City
20. Hamlin Garland 000
21. Corwin Knapp Linson 000
22. Frederic M. Lawrence 000
23. Nelson Greene 000
24. R. G. Vosburgh 000
25. (Axel) David Ericson 000
26. Frederick C. Gordon 000
27. Curtis Brown 000
28. John D. Barry 000
29. William Waring Carroll 000
30. Reginald Wright Kauffman 000
31. Irving Bacheller 000
32. Robert H. Davis 000
33. Kenneth Herford 000
34. Henry McBride 000
35. John Northern Hilliard 000
36. Harry B. Smith 000
37. Willis Brooks Hawkins 000
38. Claude Bragdon 000
Part 4. The West and Mexico
39. Willa Cather 000
Part 5. Florida and the Commodore
40. Ralph D. Paine 000
41. Ernest W. McCready 000
Part 6. Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico
42. Charles Michelson 000
43. Cecil Carnes (writing about James H. Hare) 000
44. Edward Marshall 000
45. Burr McIntosh 000
46. Richard Harding Davis 000
47. Don Carlos Seitz 000
48. Walter Parker 000
49. Otto Carmichael 000
50. Edwin J. Emerson 000
Part 7. England
51. Joseph Conrad 000
52. Jessie Conrad 000
53. Ford Madox Ford 000
54. Edward Garnett 000
55. H. G. Wells 000
56. Karl Edwin Harriman 000
57. Edith Richie Jones 000
58. Mark Barr 000
59. A. E. W. Mason 000
60. Edwin Pugh 000
61. C. Lewis Hind 000
62. W. Pett Ridge 000
List of Reminiscences 000
Notes 000
Works Cited 000
Index 000
Photographs follow page 000