American humorist and author (1894-1961) best known for such stories as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and for his distinctive, wittily captioned cartoon drawings published in the New Yorker. TLS, signed in pencil, two pages, 8.5 x 11, June 5, 1954. TLS signed in pencil “James Thurber,” one-and-a-half pages, 8.25 x 11, June 5, 1954. Letter sent from ‘Waterville’ in Paget East, Bermuda, addressed to aspiring writer Dave Webb, in part: “I rarely have time to read more than one of three of anything. It’s impossible to tell anyone how to write and all I have to say is that if you are a writer you will manage to write somehow. I thought your story was interesting and pretty well done, but the only kind of criticism worthwhile is self-criticism…It is certainly not hard to write for Ohio newspapers, which rarely go in for very careful style and don’t make too many demands on skill…Johnny Jones on the Columbus Dispatch writes as badly now as he died thirty-five years ago, and he’s been at it that long. It takes a lot of work and it is a headache. I don’t know why you don’t use your own name, since Dave Webb sounds fine to me, and the use of a name like Erasmus Foster Darby sounds like the Nineteenth Century humorists of America, who were pretty tedious. You start off with two strikes on you with a name like that…Ohio writers are likely to use too many adjectives, to become a little flowery, and to fall into repetition. You have to learn a loving care for English sentence structure…The only way to learn to write is to write and to read a lot. Try books like E. B. White’s ‘One Man’s Meat’ or Joseph Mitchell’s ‘Somebody’s Wonderful Saloon’—I have forgotten who the somebody is.” In very good to fine condition, with some creasing, heavier to the second page.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$75.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
