Genius Denied the Life and Death of Max Ewing
- ISBN-10
- 1479294306
- ISBN-13
- 9781479294305
- Category
- Authors, American
- Pages
- 398
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2012-09-24
- Authors
- Wallace K. Ewing, Max Ewing
Description
Maxwell Anderson Ewing was the subject of whispered family conversation since at least 1934, and probably earlier. Usually his accomplishments as a pianist, composer, novelist, poet, sculptor, and photographer were overshadowed by his homosexuality and his unlikely friendship with a prize fighter named Jack Pollock. Max's suicide in 1934, just after celebrating his 31st birthday, adds drama and sadness to this remarkable man's mostly happy but short life. In his brief life span, Max mingled with dozens of artists, authors, composers, musicians, politicians, stage and movie stars, and wealthy families in Europe, New York, and Hollywood and he left at least a small mark on the literary and musical scenes in America. His only published novel, Going Somewhere, can be read today with the same quiet amusement and recognition of society's foibles as it was 80 years ago.Max's artistic skills blossomed when he was still a young man, but a series of tragedies snipped the flower before it could fully mature. First came the death of his father, John Caleb Ewing, at the age of 65. Two years later, in 1934, his mother, Clara Barto Ewing, became mentally and emotionally unstable, and soon she passed on. Congruent with both these losses was the Great Depression, which caused financial difficulties for the family, aggravated Clara's decline, cut short the sales of Max's novel, and created a job shortage for almost everyone in the country, including Max. Like the protagonist in a Greek drama, he seemed immobilized by this series of events, unable to recover from the shocks, too stunned to act. At the same time he was eerily aware of his lethargy. Ironically, Max spent the last few months of his life in his small hometown of Pioneer, Ohio, the community he saw as provincial, meddling, and stifling. On June 16, 1934, two months after his mother's death, he drowned by walking into the Susquehanna River in Binghamton, New York.Max's best moments and his worst moments-and much in between-are clearly revealed in his letters, written primarily between 1926 and 1934. Few of the letters are dated, although many of them include the day of the week in which they were written, and in a very few cases the envelopes-with postmarks-have survived. Where necessary, I used content to determine at least an approximate date of origin. Jack Pollock's letters to Max were especially difficult to place in chronological order.Almost all of Max's letters and many of Jack's contain references to people and places that may be unfamiliar to today's readers. A list of these references, with a line or two of biographical data or explanatory material, is located in Appendix B. Unfortunately, no information was uncovered regarding a few of the people and they remain merely names.
Get the book
Similar books
-
For My Father: The Story Of My Life 1910-2000: An Autobiography
By Justine Davis Randers-PehrsonI will seize it back, so help me. Toward that end, if necessary, I will crush the corners of the earth.” At Howard, he was telling me how easy it would be to start a deadly riot. “Just get a pregnant black woman on Fourteenth Street to ...
-
Three Weeks with My Brother
By Nicholas Sparks, Micah Sparks, Henry LeyvaNow in paperback comes Nicholas and Micah Sparks' "New York Times" bestselling memoir of their life-affirming journey around the world.
-
It Came From Ohio: My Life as a Writer
By R. L. StineSo reader beware--you're in for a scare! A humorous, fast-paced portrait of the author of the Goosebumps series tells young readers what R. L. Stine was like as a kid, how he became a writer, and where he gets his ideas from.
-
The Widow of Oz
By Kathryn Lasky KnightAt fifty-two, newly widowed, children grown, Knight realizes most of the decisions of her life have been made by others. The time has come for growth, self-discovery, and for finding her own way home from Oz.
-
The Law in Green Falls
By Willie LynchThe Law in Green Falls
-
Mark Twain: A Reference Guide
By Thomas Asa TenneyThis reference guide lists all the books, reviews and articles concerning Mark Twain in major bibliographies through 1974.
-
Uncle Boris in the Yukon, and Other Shaggy Dog Stories
By Daniel Manus PinkwaterThe author shares humorous true-life tales inspired by his sometimes dysfunctional relationships with the dogs in his life.
-
Letters, Fictions, Lives: Henry James and William Dean Howells
By Henry James, Michael Anesko, William Dean HowellsContaining dozens of previously unpublished letters by James, and featuring a detailed biographical chronology as well as extensive interpretive commentaries that meticulously chart the development of this remarkable literary friendship, ...
-
Becoming a Londoner: A Diary
By David PlanteHaving commissioned the historian Roy Strong to write a monograph on the paintings of Charles I on horseback by Van Dyck, Nikos went to Brighton where Roy Strong lives to talk about the book, and I went along with Nikos.
-
Irvin S. Cobb: The Rise and Fall of an American Humorist
By William Elliott EllisIn this work, historian William E. Ellis examines the life of this significant writer, contextualizing his humour within the 'Lost Cause' narrative.