Part 34 (1/2)
Dr. Edward A. Steiner, of Grinnell, Iowa, a sociologist with a vision, has done more than any other man to bring together in friendly working relations.h.i.+p our native-born and foreign-born Americans. He has not only gone up and down the earth preaching an applied Christianity, but he has also written into nearly a dozen books, all of which have had many readers, his own experiences in the old world and the new, and his valuable observations--those of a trained sociologist bent upon righting the wrongs of ignorance and selfishness as he has found them embedded in customs and laws. The World War has opened a large field of usefulness for the Grinnell preacher of national and international righteousness.
Newell Dwight Hillis, the popular Brooklyn preacher, lecturer and author, was born in Maquoketa, Iowa, but has spent most of his life outside the state.
A new name in fictional literature is that of Ethel Powelson Hueston.
Mrs. Hueston was reared in a family of eleven children, and her popular first book, ”Prudence of the Parsonage,” written on a claim in Idaho while caring for her invalid husband--who died in 1915--is the story of her own experience in a parsonage in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
”Prudence Says So” is a continuation of the story. Mrs. Hueston was recently married to Lieutenant Edward J. Best, at Golden, Colorado.
Margaret Coulson Walker and Ida M. Huntington, both of Des Moines, have added to the information and delight of children by a number of ill.u.s.trated books. Miss Walker's ”Bird Legends and Life,” and ”Lady Hollyhock and Her Friends,” and Miss Huntington's ”Garden of Heart's Delight,” and ”Peter Pumpkin in Wonderland” are favorites with many.
Miss Emilie Blackmore Stapp, literary editor of the _Des Moines Capital_, has written a number of popular stories for children. Her ”Squaw Lady,” ”Uncle Peter Heathen,” and ”The Trail of the Go-Hawks”
have found many readers. She has done more than write stories. She has organized a national club called the ”Go-Hawks Happy Tribe,” and the Tribe has undertaken to raise a million pennies to help buy food for starving children in France and Belgium. The grand total of pennies reported September, 1917, was 255,000!
Edna Ferber, of ”Emma McChesney” fame, and the author of a half-dozen clever novels, the latest of which is ”f.a.n.n.y Herself,” was born in Wisconsin, but spent much of her youth in Ottumwa, Iowa, where her father was a successful merchant.
Oney Fred Sweet, born in Hampton, Iowa, and sometime a journalist in Des Moines, has made a national reputation as a feature writer on the _Chicago Tribune_ and as a contributor of verse and sketches to the magazines.
Laura L. Hinckley, of Mount Vernon, Iowa, is a frequent contributor to the leading magazines. Recent stories in the _Sat.u.r.day Evening Post_ and in the _Woman's Home Companion_ attest her ability in a difficult field.
A promising young claimant for literary honors is (Lotta) Allen Meachem, of New York, born in Was.h.i.+ngton County, Iowa. Following several good stories in the magazines, comes her ”Belle Jones--A Story of Fulfilment,” published by Dutton.
Eleanor Hoyt Brainerd, born in Iowa City, now a resident of New York, was in early life a teacher, but since 1898 has been on the staff of the _New York Sun_. Her ”Misdemeanors of Nancy,” in 1892, was the beginning of a successful career in authors.h.i.+p. Her ”Nancy,” ”Bettina”
and ”Belinda” are better known to many than are their own next door neighbors.
Men who have not learned to deny the eternal boy in their nature find as much enjoyment as boys themselves in reading ”Widow O'Callahan's Boys,” and everybody enjoys ”Maggie McLanehan,” both creations of Gulielma Zollinger, of Newton, Iowa. Three other books, not so well known, are added to the list of Miss Zollinger's achievements in literature.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Eslick) Cooper, born in Homer, Iowa, has spent most of her adult life in the Orient and is an authority on the status of women in Oriental lands. She is the author of ”Sayonara,” a play produced by Maxine Elliot, of many magazine articles, and of a half dozen books, all published since 1910. Her books are vivid pictures of life in China, Egypt, Turkey and j.a.pan.
Among the most prominent magazine writers and journalists of the period is Judson Welliver. He several years ago graduated from Iowa journalism to the larger field, the national capital, and has latterly become one of the regular contributors to _Munsey's_, and a frequent contributor to other periodicals.