Ridley Wills (1898-1957). Courtesy Haywood County Line.
William Ridley Wills (1898-1957)[1] was an American poet, novelist, and journalist.
Life[]
Wills was a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where he earned a B.A. in 1923, and a member of the Fugitives literary group.[1]
He served in the army during World War I and saw action in France and Germany.
He worked for the Memphis Press, Memphis Evening Appeal, and the Nashville Banner newspapers before leaving for New York City to become editor of the New York World.
He spent the last 4 years of his life as a patient at the Bay Pines Veterans Hospital in Florida where he also served as the editor of the hospital newspaper. He died on September 8, 1957.[2]
Writing[]
Wills wrote 2 novels: Hoax (1922), the life of a young man from the age of 18 to 27, and Harvey Landrum (1924), a psychological study of chinless Harvey Landrum, who tries to conceal a sense of inferiority behind a false front of bravery. The books are written in a frank but restrained prose style[3].
He and Allen Tate co-wrote a bookof poetry called The Golden Mean, and other poems, which was published in 1923.[4].
Allen Tate on Wills[]
Allen Tate wrote of Wills in the book "The Golden Mean":
- Ridley Wills came into the crass universe like a Spring wind with a napkin under its chin. He has subsequently attended many banquets and stol'n the scraps. We shall be somewhat glad for Ridley reaches into the very cul-de-sac of human passion; in fact, he reaches into human passion.
- Ridley Wills' genius is uncontested; he doesn't even contest it himself. His mind is immediate; it has no middle term. His intuition of reality points only to foreknowledge, and that, perhaps, is why he knows practically nothing of the past. Ridley Wills is quite at his ease in the novel. I think that Ridley has a very bright future behind him, because he is more than successful in his collaboration with me. He permanence is established - he is certainly the most parabolic young man of the Younger Generation.
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- The Golden Mean, and other poems (with Allen Tate). 1923; Winston-Salem, NC: Palaemon Press, [1970s]; Nashville, TN: Elder's Bookstore, 1979.
Novels[]
- Hoax. New York: Doran, 1922.
- Harvey Landstrom: A novel. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1924.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[5]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Poets, The Fugitives, Nashville Public Television, Web, June 23, 2012.
- ↑ "Fugitives and Agrarians". http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/speccol/vrr/fa_bios.shtml. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
- ↑ "Writers of Tennessee". http://newdeal.feri.org/guides/tnguide/ch15.htm. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
- ↑ "Register of the Ridley Wills. Golden mean and other poems.". http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf009nb0hj. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
- ↑ Search results = au:Ridley Wills, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 20, 2019.
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