by George J. Dance
Orrick Glenday Johns (June 2, 1887 - July 8, 1946) was an American poet and playwright.[1]
Orrick Johns (1887-1946). Courtesy Gauss's Children Wiki.
Life[]
Youth and education[]
Johns was born in St. Louis, Missouri, 1 of 6 sons of Minnehaha (McDearmon) and George Sibley Johns.[1]
At 7 years of age he was hit by a runaway trolley car, and lost a leg.[1] Bedridden for some time, he became a voracious reader.[2]
After briefly attending Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Missouri, he worked as the drama critic for Reedy's Mirror, a St. Louis-based literary magazine.[2] At Reedy's he became friends with Sara Teasdale and Zoë Akins.[1]
Career[]
Johns moved to New York City in 1911 to further his writing career.[2]
His poem "Second Avenue" won 1st prize in a major poetry contest hosted by a new anthology, The Lyric Year, in 1912. However, the award caused a scandal, as many critics declared the winner should have been 4th-place "Renascence", by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Johns himself reportedly offered Millay his prize money,[3] decided in protest not to attend the awards ceremony, and called his win "as much of an embarrassment to me as a triumph."[4]
Johns published a novel and 2 collections of poetry while in New York. He also wrote a play, The Charming Conscience, which was a hit when produced in California in 1923.[2]
In New York Johns met and married Margarite Frances "Peggy" Baird. After their marriage fell apart, he went to Europe in 1926, spending the next 3 years there. On his return he settled in Carmel, California, where he became editor of a weekly newspaper, The Carmelite. He married Caroline Blackman, a former friend from St. Louis, who bore him a daughter, Charis, in 1930. After Caroline was hospitalized for depression, Charis was taken to live with her grandmother.[1]
Johns became an active member of the Communist Party in the 1930's. He wrote for The Daily Worker, and became an editor of New Masses.[2] He helped organize the 1935 American Writers' Congress, then joined the Federal Writers Project in New York City, becoming its director (a job from which he resigned in 1937).[1]
After his 2nd wife died, Johns married Doria Berton,[1] who gave him a daughter, Deborah.
He died in Danbury, Connecticut, committing suicide by poison.[1]
Recognition[]
Johns is mentioned in Kenneth Rexroth's poem, "Thou Shalt Not Kill", as "hopping into the surf on his one leg".[5]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Asphalt, and other poems. New York: Knopf, 1917.
- Black Branches, A book of poetry and plays. New York: Pagan, 1920.
- Wild Plum: Lyrics. New York: Macmillan, 1926.
Novel[]
- Blindfold. New York: Lieber & Lewis, 1923.
Non-fiction[]
- Time of Our Lives: The story of my father and myself. New York: Stackpole, 1937.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[6]
"Wild Plum," by Orrick Johns
Poems by Orrick Johns[]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Orrick Johns, Dictionary of Midwestern Literature, Volume I: The authors (edited by Philip A. Greasley). Indiana University Press, 2001, 288. Google Books, Web, May 11, 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Orrick Johns, Greenwich Village Bookshop Door, University of Texas. Web, May 11, 2015.
- ↑ Melissa Bradshaw, "Performing Greenwich Village Bohemianism," Cambridge Companion to the Literature of New York (edited by Cyrus R.K. Patell & Bryan Waterman), Cambridge University Press, 2010, 153. Google Books, Web, May 11, 2015.
- ↑ Ross Wetzsteon, Republic of Dreams: Greenwich Village: The American Bohemia, 1910-1960, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003, 241. Google Books, Web, May 11, 2015.
- ↑ Orrick Glenday Johns, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation. Web, May 11, 2015.
- ↑ Search results = au:Orrick Johns. WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 11, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- Little Things"
- "Olives", Flarf.
- "Songs of Deliverance" in The New Poetry: An anthology: "The Song of Youth," "Virgins," "No Prey Am I"
- Johns in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "Songs of Deliverance," "Sister of the Rose," "The Rain," "The Haunt," "Old Youth," "The Door," "The Tree Toad," "The Horns of Peace," "Dilemma," "Bess"
- Books
- Orrick Johns at Amazon.com
- About
- Orrick Johns at the Greenwich Village Bookshop Door
- Collection of letters from Sara Teasdale to Orrick Johns
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