Arthur Burton Rascoe (October 22, 1892 - March 19, 1957), was an American

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, editor and literary critic of the '' New York Herald Tribune''. He was born in

Fulton, Kentucky Fulton is a home rule-class city in Fulton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,357 at the 2020 census, down from 2,445 at the 2010 census. It was once known as the "Banana Capital of the World", because 70% of imported banan ...

to Matthew L. Rascoe and Elizabeth Burton Rascoe. His father chose to investigate business prospect in Oklahoma Territory, and the family eventually settled in

Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical ...

, which, despite fears planted by friends in Fulton, was a thriving community. Housing had not kept up with the influx of citizens and the Rascoe family was left to small dismal accommodations, something Mrs. Rascoe never overcame. Burton, however, grabbed at every opportunity to find work and educate himself outside the school system. While serving as a class officer at Shawnee High School he played baseball and played quarterback on the football team after earning 30 dollars digging potatoes to purchase his uniform. He began a paper route for the ''Shawnee Herald'' but soon put himself in charge of all the other newsboys. He also worked as assistant librarian at the town's Carnegie Library, was a ghost writer for citizens who were called on to make speeches or publish articles, a stringer for the ''Oklahoma City Times'' and writing articles for the ''Herald'', all this while attending classes. His father continued to struggle supporting his family and by 16 Burton was supporting himself. Feeling ready and recognizing his more open-minded views he left school before graduation and moved to Chicago. From 1911 until 1913, he attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

where he joined Sigma Nu. While still a student, he started writing for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' and continued working there until 1920. In 1922, he became literary editor of the '' New York Tribune''. He continued in that position until a merger turned the paper into the ''New York Herald Tribune'' in 1924. The writing and editorial staff he assembled included writers who became well-respected:

Isabel Paterson Isabel Paterson (January 22, 1886 – January 10, 1961) was a Canadian-American journalist, novelist, political philosopher, and a leading literary and cultural critic of her day. Historian Jim Powell has called Paterson one of the three f ...

and

Will Cuppy William Jacob Cuppy (August 23, 1884 – September 19, 1949) was an American humorist and literary critic, known for his satirical books about nature and historical figures. Early life Cuppy was born in Auburn, Indiana. He was named "Will" i ...

. Rascoe's syndicated column, ''The Daybook of a New Yorker'' (1924–28), appeared in over 400 newspapers. In April 1927, with

Seward B. Collins Seward Bishop Collins (April 22, 1899 – December 8, 1952) was an American New York socialite and publisher. By the end of the 1920s, he was a self-described " fascist". Biography Collins was born in Syracuse, New York to Irish Catholic par ...

, Rascoe purchased '' The Bookman''. Rascoe served as editor before departing in April 1928 in a disagreement with Collins over the direction of the magazine. Rascoe continued to hold high-profile editorial jobs in the field of literary criticism and to write books of his own about literature and authors. In 1935 he was appointed a senior editor at Doubleday, Doran, holding this post until 1952. His best-known work, ''Titans of Literature'', appeared in 1932. He also authored ''Before I Forget'', an autobiography of sorts revealing much of his upbringing in Oklahoma. The book gives a good insight to life for a young man during the early days of the 20th century. Other works include ''Theodore Dreiser''(1925), ''A Bookman's Daybook'' (1929), ''

The Smart Set Anthology ''The Smart Set Anthology'' is an anthology of selections from ''The Smart Set'' literary magazine, edited by Burton Rascoe and Groff Conklin. It was first published in hardcover by Reynal & Hitchcock in 1934, and reprinted as ''The Smart Set Antho ...

'', edited together with

Groff Conklin Edward Groff Conklin (September 6, 1904 – July 19, 1968) was an American science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories (co-edited with physician Noah Fabricant), wrote books on home improvemen ...

(1934), ''The Joys of Reading: Life's Greatest Pleasure'' (1937) and ''Belle Starr, The Bandit Queen'' (1941).(8 June 1941)
The Notorious Career Of Belle Starr
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' In 1946, he resigned as dramatic critic for the

New York World Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

after the paper refused to publish his harshly negative review of the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

Company's production of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Henry IV Part I ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...

'' and Rascoe, in turn, refused to review any more Old Vic productions. One report of his resignation called him "the stormiest figure in Broadway circles". He was also a literary critic (New York World Telegram) and was a syndicated columnist throughout his career. He was best known for "A Bookman's Daybook," "The Book of the Week," and "TV First-Nighter." Rascoe married Hazel Luke on July 5, 1913, and they had two children, Alfred Burton Rascoe, Jr., born July 2, 1914, who died by suicide in 1936,(20 September 1936)
BURTON RASCOE'S SON DIES BY GAS IN HOME
''

'' and a daughter, Ruth Helen, born 1918. In his last few years of life, Rascoe worked as a television reviewer.Rascoe, Judith (14 May 1989)
A Cautionary Tale for Reviewers
''

'' (letter to the editor from Rascoe's niece offer an explanation for Rascoe's negative reviews of ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...

'') He died of heart failure in New York City on March 19, 1957.(21 March 1957)
Burton Rascoe, Discovered Fine Writers
''St. Petersburg Times''(20 March 1957)

''

''Lawrence, Larry (12 October 1960). ttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Nd8jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_iUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3822,1162776&dq= That Reminds Me ''

Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' (personal recollections of Rascoe by college classmate)

References

*''Who Was Who in America'', v. 3 (1951-1960), Chicago: Marquis - Who's Who, 1963, p. 711. *Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft (eds.), ''Twentieth Century American Authors'', New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1942, pp. 1148–1149. *Burton Rascoe, ''Before I Forget'', New York: Literary Guild, 1937, 442 pages.

External links

*Finding aid to th
Burton Rascoe papers
at th
University of Pennsylvania Libraries.
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rascoe, Burton 1892 births 1957 deaths People from Fulton, Kentucky New-York Tribune personnel New York Herald Tribune people American literary critics People from Shawnee, Oklahoma American television critics