Conrad Michael Richter (October 13, 1890 – October 30, 1968) was an American novelist whose lyrical work is concerned largely with life on the American frontier in various periods. His novel ''
The Town'' (1950), the last story of his trilogy ''
The Awakening Land
''The Awakening Land'' is a 1978 television miniseries based on Conrad Richter's trilogy of novels: '' The Trees''; '' The Fields''; and '' The Town,'' published from 1940 to 1950. The series originally aired on NBC in three installments from ...
'' about the Ohio frontier, won the 1951
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
.
[ His novel '']The Waters of Kronos
''The Waters of Kronos'' is a novel by American author Conrad Richter published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1960 in literature, 1960. It won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1961.
According to Penn State University, "this is the story of John Do ...
'' won the 1961 National Book Award for Fiction
The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...
.[ Two collections of short stories were published ]posthumously
Posthumous may refer to:
* Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death
* Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death
* ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987
* ''Posthumous'' (E ...
during the 20th century, and several of his novels have been reissued during the 21st century by academic presses.
Early life
Conrad Michael Richter was born in 1890 in Tremont, Pennsylvania
Tremont is a borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,672 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Tremont is located at (40.630052, -76.389677).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total ...
, near Pottsville, to John Absalom Richter, a Lutheran minister, and Charlotte Esther (née Henry) Richter. His grandfather, uncle and great-uncle were also Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
ministers, and descended from German colonial immigrants. As a child, Richter lived with his family in several small central Pennsylvania mining towns, where he encountered descendants of pioneers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who shared family stories. These inspired him later to write historical fiction set in changing American frontiers. Attending local public schools, Richter finished his formal education when he graduated high school at age fifteen.[Conrad Richter](_blank)
. Ohioana Authors
Early career, marriage and move to New Mexico
At the age of 19, Richter started working as an editor of a local weekly newspaper, the Patton, Pennsylvania
Patton is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is northwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Altoona, in an agricultural region. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Are ...
''Courier''. In 1911 Richter relocated to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, and worked as the private secretary to a wealthy manufacturing family. Richter married Harvena Maria Achenbach in 1915. They had their only child, Harvena Richter, in 1917. Richter worked subsequently for a small publishing company, initiated a juvenile magazine, and started writing short stories. During the 1930s, he also performed two brief stints as a screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
in Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
.
Richter continued writing and trying to sell short stories. In 1913, a young Conrad Richter sent manuscripts to literary editor Frederic Taber Cooper
Frederic Taber Cooper Ph.D. (May 27, 1864 – May 20, 1937) was an American editor and writer.
Life
Cooper was born in New York City, graduated from Harvard University in 1886 and obtained an LL.B. from Columbia University in 1887."Frederi ...
. Responding to Richter’s letter, Cooper writes that he does not give “gratuitous opinions on manuscripts, either to friends or strangers ... I suspect that your main difficulty is that, in straining after originality, you fail to make your stories ring true. Try to be simpler.” His short story "Brothers of No Kin," published in ''Forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
'' magazine in 1914, was included in the "Roll of Honor for 1914" of American stories by Edward J. O'Brien
Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien (1890–1941) was a U.S. writer, poet, editor and anthologist.
As Edward J. O'Brien, he created a series of annual anthologies containing his selection of the previous year's best short stories by U.S. authors, ...
, editor of the ''Best Short Stories of 1915.'' O'Brien wrote in his "Introduction" that Richter's story was the best of all those published in 1914; the editor was explicitly concerned with the development of an "American literature" and considered Richter as integral to this.[Edward J. O'Brien (editor), "Introduction", ''Best Short Stories of 1915''](_blank)
Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1915, e-text online at Gutenberg Project This short story was re-issued as the title story of a posthumous collection published in 1973.
In 1928 Richter relocated to Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, for the sake of his wife's health.[David R. Johnson, ''Conrad Richter''](_blank)
, Penn State Press, 2001 During this period, he also collected much material from which he created short stories about the Southwest frontier days. By 1933, Richter and his wife had returned to live in his hometown of Pine Grove, Pennsylvania Pine Grove, Pennsylvania may refer to more than one place:
* Pine Grove, Cambria County, Pennsylvania
* Pine Grove, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
* Pine Grove, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
* Pine Grove, Perry County, Pennsylvania
*Pine Grove, S ...
. They subsequently alternated between Pine Grove, Albuquerque, and Florida.[Overview, Paperback version of ''The Waters of Kronos'', Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003](_blank)
Writing career
During the early 1930s, Richter had numerous stories published in pulp magazines
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...
such as ''Triple-X'', ''Short Stories'', ''Complete Stories'', ''Ghost Stories'', and ''Blue Book''.''Conrad Richter author spotlight''(Random House, Inc.)
/ref> His ''Early Americana and Other Stories'' (1936) was considered his first successful book.
He persisted with his work, gradually writing and publishing full-length novels. Richter set his novels in different periods of American history on its changing frontier. He may be best known for ''The Sea of Grass
''The Sea of Grass'' is a 1936 novel by Conrad Richter. It is set in New Mexico in the late 19th century, and concerns the clash between rich ranchers, whose cattle run freely on government-owned land, a prairie "sea of grass", and the homestead ...
'' (1936), set in late nineteenth-century New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, and featuring conflict between ranchers and farmers. It was later adapted as a movie of the same name, directed by Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...
and featuring Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
and Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
, released in 1947.
Richter's novel ''The Light in the Forest
''The Light in the Forest'' is a novel first published in 1953 by U.S. author Conrad Richter. Though it is a work of fiction and primarily features fictional characters, the novel incorporates historic figures and is based in historical fact rel ...
'' (1953), set in late eighteenth-century Pennsylvania and Ohio, featured challenges faced by a young white man who had become an assimilated Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
Amerindian after being taken captive as a child. After the boy was returned as a youth to white culture, he was considered suspicious. This novel also became very popular and had a second life as a movie
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, released in 1958. Richter returned to the topic of the white child raised in an alien culture in his later novel ''A Country of Strangers'' (1966). As noted by Ernest Cady in his review in the ''Columbus Dispatch
''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 1 ...
'', both books were written from the point of view of Indians. He wrote of Richter,
He simply tells how he thinks things were for both Indians and whites, in a hard time of violence and danger and change on a raw frontier. And does it so convincingly that the reader senses that this indeed, is how it must have been.
During this period, Richter also published the novels of his trilogy The Awakening Land
''The Awakening Land'' is a 1978 television miniseries based on Conrad Richter's trilogy of novels: '' The Trees''; '' The Fields''; and '' The Town,'' published from 1940 to 1950. The series originally aired on NBC in three installments from ...
, about the Ohio frontier: '' The Trees'' (1940), '' The Fields'' (1946), and '' The Town'' (1950). In 1947 he won the Ohioana Book Award for ''The Fields.'' ''The Town'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
in 1951.["Fiction"]
''Past winners & finalists by category''. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2012-03-28. In a review of the last novel, Louis Bromfield
Louis Bromfield (December 27, 1896 – March 18, 1956) was an American writer and conservationist. A bestselling novelist in the 1920s, he reinvented himself as a farmer in the late 1930s and became one of the earliest proponents of sustainab ...
, also an Ohio writer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, wrote of the trilogy:
the three books are not only concerned with Sayward and her family but the growth and the astonishingly rapid development of a whole area which has played a key role in the nation's history… Mr. Richter has reproduced the quality and the speech of these people so well that a thousand years from now, one may read his books and know exactly what these people were like and what it was like to have lived in an era when within three or four generations a frontier wilderness turned into one of the great industrial areas of the earth…. 'The Town' stands on its own as an entity and may be read on its own as a full, rich and comprehensive novel based upon the lives of ordinary people, brave and ever heroic in their own small way...
The trilogy was first published in one volume in 1966 by Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
. It was adapted as a TV miniseries of the same name in 1978, in which several plot changes were made as a result of the changing social culture of the time, especially concerning race and sexuality.
Richter's short story, "Doctor Hanray's Second Chance", first published in the magazine ''The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'' in 1950 (June 10),[ has a theme of reconciling with the past. Richter returned to this theme in his 1960 autobiographical novel, ''The Waters of Kronos'' (Chronos). (]Chronos
Chronos (; grc-gre, Χρόνος, , "time"), also spelled Khronos or Chronus, is a personification of time in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature.
Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified with, the Tit ...
was the ancient Greek personification of Time.) This novel won the U.S. National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
in 1961.["National Book Awards – 1961"]
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...
. Retrieved 2012-03-28. (With essay by Harold Augenbraum from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)
The short story "Doctor Hanray" was republished in the anthology, ''The Saturday Evening Post Fantasy Stories'' (1951) and in several later speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...
anthologies published by the ''Post'' and others.[ The ]Internet Speculative Fiction Database
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB ...
catalogs five of Richter's stories, including a very early one, "The Head of His House", from a 1917 anthology, ''The Grim Thirteen'' (Dodd, Mead
Dodd, Mead and Company was one of the pioneer publishing houses of the United States, based in New York City. Under several names, the firm operated from 1839 until 1990.
History Origins
In 1839, Moses Woodruff Dodd (1813–1899) and John S. Ta ...
).[ (ISFDB). Retrieved 2013-11-19.]
After Richter's death, two short story collections were published posthumously. Additionally, several of his novels have been reissued by academic presses. When ''The Waters of Kronos'' was reissued in paperback format in 2003, one reviewer wrote,
Bibliography
*''Early Americana'' (short stories) (1936)
*''The Sea of Grass
''The Sea of Grass'' is a 1936 novel by Conrad Richter. It is set in New Mexico in the late 19th century, and concerns the clash between rich ranchers, whose cattle run freely on government-owned land, a prairie "sea of grass", and the homestead ...
'' (1936)
*'' The Trees'' (1940)
*''Tacey Cromwell'' (1942)
*''The Free Man'' (1943)
*'' The Fields'' (1946)
*''Always Young and Fair'' (1947)
*'' The Town'' (1950)
*''The Light in the Forest
''The Light in the Forest'' is a novel first published in 1953 by U.S. author Conrad Richter. Though it is a work of fiction and primarily features fictional characters, the novel incorporates historic figures and is based in historical fact rel ...
'' (1953)
*''The Mountain on the Desert'' (1955)
*''The Lady'' (1957)
*''The Waters of Kronos
''The Waters of Kronos'' is a novel by American author Conrad Richter published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1960 in literature, 1960. It won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1961.
According to Penn State University, "this is the story of John Do ...
'' (1960/2003)
*''A Simple Honorable Man'' (1962)
*''The Grandfathers'' (1964)
*''A Country of Strangers'' (1966)
*''The Awakening Land
''The Awakening Land'' is a 1978 television miniseries based on Conrad Richter's trilogy of novels: '' The Trees''; '' The Fields''; and '' The Town,'' published from 1940 to 1950. The series originally aired on NBC in three installments from ...
'' (trilogy in single volume, 1966/1991 revised paperback edition/2017 trade paperback editions reprinted from original Knopf editions)
*''The Aristocrat'' (1968)
*''Brothers of No Kin and Other Stories'' (posthumous short story collection, 1973)
*''The Rawhide Knot and Other Stories'' (posthumous short story collection, 1985)
The Sea of Grass, The Trees and Tacey Cromwell were published as Armed Services Edition
Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to s ...
s during WWII.
Legacy and honors
Richter received national and regional literary awards, and several honorary doctorates.
*1937 – National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
nomination for ''The Sea of Grass
''The Sea of Grass'' is a 1936 novel by Conrad Richter. It is set in New Mexico in the late 19th century, and concerns the clash between rich ranchers, whose cattle run freely on government-owned land, a prairie "sea of grass", and the homestead ...
''.
*1942 – Gold Medal for Literature from Society of Libraries of New York University, for ''The Sea of Grass'' and '' The Trees''.
*1947 – Ohioana Library Medal for '' The Fields''.
*1951 – Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
for '' The Town''.
*1959 – National Institute of Arts and Letters grant for literature.
*1959 – Maggie Award
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret.
Maggie may refer to:
People
Women
* Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist
* Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Au ...
for ''The Lady''.
*1961 – National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
for ''The Waters of Kronos''.
*1944 – Litt.D., Susquehanna University
Susquehanna University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. Its name is derived from the original Susquehannock settlers of the region. Founded in 1858 as a m ...
.
*1958 – Litt.D., University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...
.
*1966 – Litt.D., Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
.
*1966 – LL.D., Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
.
*1966 – L.H.D., Lebanon Valley College
Lebanon Valley College (LVC, Lebanon Valley, or The Valley) is a private college in Annville, Pennsylvania.
History
Lebanon Valley was founded on February 23, 1866, with classes beginning May 7 of that year and its first class graduating in 1870 ...
.
*1967 – Florence R. Head Memorial Award
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
from the Martha Kinney Cooper Ohioana Association
Martha (Hebrew language, Hebrew: מָרְתָא) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is describe ...
.
References
External links
Conrad Richter and the Minsker Stories
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Conrad
1890 births
1968 deaths
American people of German descent
National Book Award winners
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners
Writers from Pennsylvania
American historical novelists
Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period
20th-century American male writers