Gerald Warner Brace (September 24, 1901 – July 20, 1978) was an American novelist, writer, educator, sailor and

boat builder This is a list of boat builders, for which there is a Wikipedia article. Motorboats (<50 feet)

. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

Biography

Early life and ancestors

He was born on September 24, 1901 in

Islip Islip may refer to: Places England * Islip, Northamptonshire *Islip, Oxfordshire United States *Islip, New York, a town in Suffolk County ** Islip (hamlet), New York, located in the above town **Central Islip, New York, a hamlet and census-d ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

, and died on July 20, 1978 at

Blue Hill, Maine Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,792 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the Blue Hill Harbor School, The Bay Sch ...

.Lindgren, 1–15Brace, 31 Gerald W. Brace was a son of Charles Loring Brace, Jr.,Raymond, 22 who was an 1874 graduate of

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

and a graduate of

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

class of 1876 with a degree in Civil Engineering. C. L. Brace was a

Mugwump The Mugwumps were Republican political activists in the United States who were intensely opposed to political corruption. They were never formally organized. Typically they switched parties from the Republican Party by supporting Democratic ...

in politics. He was employed as Superintendent and Engineer of Construction with the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway at

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. When his father, CLB Sr., died in 1890, he was invited by the trustees of the New York Children's Aid Society to take up as Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of that society. Gerald Brace's mother was Louise Tillman Warner,Brace, 34–35–36–37 the daughter of Dr. Lewis Tillman Warner and Elizabeth Williams Gray. Elizabeth was the daughter of Elizabeth Williams Hull, a daughter of Dr. Amos Gift Hull, a well known surgeon of New York, and a sister of Dr. Amos Gerald Hull (1810–1859), an 1832 graduate of Rutgers Medical College and an influential Homeopathic Physician. Elizabeth Williams Gray was also the daughter was Dr.

John Franklin Gray John Franklin Gray (September 23, 1804 – June 9, 1882) was an American educator and physician, a pioneer in the field of homoeopathy and one of its first practitioners in the United States. He is also recognized as an important medical reforme ...

Raymond, 19Raymond, 20Cleave 454 (1804–1882), an 1826 graduate of the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...

and the first practitioner of

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...

in the United States. He is buried in

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He was a grandson of the Rev. Mr.

Blackleach Burritt Blackleach Burritt (1744 – August 27, 1794) was a preacher during the American Revolutionary War. During the war, he was incarcerated in a sugar house prison.Mather., p. 206 Early life and ancestors Blackleach Burritt was born at Ripton Pari ...

Raymond, M.D, 32–38 and a descendant of Governor

Thomas Welles Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from ...

.Siemiatkoski, 1–10 Dr. Warner's second wife was Sarah Loring MacKaye, (1841–1876) a woman of extraordinary charm and brilliance, and a pianist of professional ability. She was the daughter of Emily Steele and Colonel James M. MacKaye, a successful attorney and an ardent abolitionist and an organizer of The Wells Fargo Express Company, and President of American Telegraph Company. Sarah was a sister of American playwright, actor, theater manager and inventor James Morrison Steele MacKaye. He is the grandson of Letitia Neill of

Belfast, Ireland Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and

Charles Loring Brace Charles Loring Brace (June 19, 1826 – August 11, 1890) was an American philanthropist who contributed to the field of social reform. He is considered a father of the modern foster care movement and was most renowned for starting the Orphan T ...

,Burlingame, 55–56 Yale College 1846, who was a contributing philanthropist in the field of social reform. He is considered a father of the modern foster care movement and was most renowned for starting the Orphan Train movement of the mid-19th century, and for founding The

Children's Aid Society Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employees ...

in 1853. He is a great-grandson of John Pierce Brace, an 1812 graduate of

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

who was head teacher at

Litchfield Female Academy The Litchfield Female Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut, founded in 1792 by Sarah Pierce, was one of the most important institutions of female education in the United States. During the 30 years after its opening the school enrolled more than 2 ...

. The Academy was founded in 1792 by his aunt,

Sarah Pierce Sarah Pierce (June 26, 1767 – January 19, 1852) was a teacher, educator and founder of one of the earliest schools for girls in the United States, the Litchfield Female Academy in Litchfield, Connecticut. The school having been established in ...

(1767–1852) and was one of the earliest schools for girls in the United States. J. P. Brace left Litchfield Female Academy in 1833 and moved on to a position at

Catharine Beecher Catharine Esther Beecher (September 6, 1800 – May 12, 1878) was an American educator known for her forthright opinions on female education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children's ...

's Hartford Female Seminary. He was also editor of the ''

Hartford Courant The ''Hartford Courant'' is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is considered to be the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven ...

''. His wife was Lucy Porter, the sister-in-law of

Lyman Beecher Lyman Beecher (October 12, 1775 – January 10, 1863) was a Presbyterian minister, and the father of 13 children, many of whom became noted figures, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Bee ...

, Yale College, 1797 and a descendant of politician, and diplomat

Rufus King Rufus King (March 24, 1755April 29, 1827) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and the Philadelphia Convention and was one of the signers of the Unit ...

, who was one of the signers of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

. Gerald W. Brace had a typical upper-middle class Victorian upbringing. He always looked back with nostalgia on the moral certainties and romantic visions of that age. Though he lived in a century of industrialization and technology, and rapid social change, he dreamt of sailing ships, lonely country farms, and romantic adventures. Although Brace spent his youth in New York, he became a quintessential New Englander. From the beginning of the 20th century, the Brace family summered in Maine, especially at

Deer Isle Deer Isle is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,194 at the 2020 census. Notable landmarks in Deer Isle are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Stonington Opera House, and the town's many art galleries. ...

. Sailing was a way of life. He wrote about it in both his fiction and non-fiction.

Education

When he turned 8, he began attending a private school for boys called the Allen-Stevenson SchoolBrace, 103 on Fifty-sixth Street, between

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

and

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

in New York City. In 1913, he began attending The Gunnery and graduated from

Loomis Chaffee School The Loomis Chaffee School (; LC or Loomis) is a selective independent, coeducational, college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, including postgraduate students, located in Windsor, Connecticut, seven miles north ...

in 1918. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

in 1922.Brace, 233 He received both his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and Ph.D degrees from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. When he entered Amherst College he first became acquainted with and studied under the poet

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...

.Brace, 215–216 In later years, when both he and Frost lived in the Boston area, Frost would often join them for dinner and fascinated Brace's children by his speculative nonstop monologue.Brace, 208 It was also during his college years that he began taking long hikes in

The Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

and then into the mountains of Vermont.Brace, 182–184 He became acquainted with the harsh life of the rural people who lived on the back country roads, subconsciously gathering subject matter for his novels. Many of his books dealt with a way of life that was already disappearing, however, his plots and writing style continued to evolve.Showalter, 56–57–58–59 Hoping to learn more about boat design, Gerald entered a graduate program in Architecture at Harvard, but he soon realized that he was in the wrong field. He really wanted to write, and he was allowed to transfer to English and take a seminar in Creative Writing. After he received his Master's Degree, he was offered a teaching position at Williams College where he added a passion for skiing to his enjoyment of long mountain hikes. He found that he got along well with students and enjoyed teaching.

Family

He married on December 3, 1927 at the Community Unitarian Church in

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

by the Rev. James Alexander Fairley, (Rev. Fairley's son, Lincoln Fairley, was Brace's roommate at HarvardBrace, 123Brace, 224–230) Huldah Potter Laird, born on November 12, 1902 at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston, Chel ...

and died in August 1986 in

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It is a western suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, United States; and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population stood at 27,295 ...

. She was the daughter of Raymond Gilchrist Laird and Huldah Blanche Potter. She taught biology at

Lasell College Lasell University (LU) is a private university in Auburndale, Massachusetts. Lasell offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the liberal arts, sciences, and professional fields of study. History Lasell was founded in 1851 as the Auburndal ...

(formerly known as Lasell Seminary) prior to her marriage to Brace. Gerald and Huldah were the parents of three children: *

C. Loring Brace Charles Loring Brace IV (December 19, 1930 – September 7, 2019) was an American anthropologist, Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan's Department of Anthropology and Curator Emeritus at the University's Museum of Anthropological Arc ...

, (1930–2019) is an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. * Gerald Warner Brace, Jr. (1931–2003) * Barbara Brace Seeley (1934–2003)

Career

He began his career as an instructor and professor of English and of creative writing teaching briefly at

, and later at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

. He has spent most of his teaching career at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

where the creative writing program still awards a prize in his name. It was said of him that as a sailor he was as skilled as any lobsterman who shared

Penobscot Bay Penobscot Bay (french: Baie de Penobscot) is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, downriver from Belfast, Maine, Belfast. Penobscot Bay has many ...

Laconic A laconic phrase or laconism is a concise or terse statement, especially a blunt and elliptical rejoinder. It is named after Laconia, the region of Greece including the city of Sparta, whose ancient inhabitants had a reputation for verbal auster ...

in his ways, he woke early to write, to shape words that spoke his sense of what Maine stood for against the ebbing of old New England. His college years at Amherst served to confirm his strong and romantic attachment to the traditions of New England. He always looked for the old ways, the remnants of the past in action ... and though he knew life and the world were harsh and often tragic, he had a conviction that old New England had once discovered a classic serenity that could still be perceived.Brace, 182

Reputation

Brace, like

C. P. Snow Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow, (15 October 1905 – 1 July 1980) was an English novelist and physical chemist who also served in several important positions in the British Civil Service and briefly in the UK government.''The Columbia Encyclope ...

, greatly admired

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

above all of the English novelists and wrote an introduction to ''

The Last Chronicle of Barset ''The Last Chronicle of Barset'' is a novel by English author Anthony Trollope, published in 1867. It is the sixth and final book in the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, preceded by '' The Small House at Allington''. The novel is set in the ...

''. Reviewers of his novel, ''The Department'', inevitably compared him to C. P. Snow. One reviewer called his novel ''The Department'' the American equivalent of ''The Masters'', which was awarded the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

in 1954, in its witty and basically good-humored anatomy of every English department there ever was. He was referred to by ''

The New England Quarterly ''The New England Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal consisting of articles on New England's cultural, literary, political, and social history. The journal contains essays, interpretations of traditional texts, essay reviews and book ...

'' as "the forgotten New England novelist", and he was renowned in his time for his beautifully illustrated chronicles of life along and near the New England coast. A writer, sailor, boat designer, and teacher, he introduced readers to seafaring folk and farmers, townspeople and "summer people," and has made us see them, their lives, and their background. From his first book through of his succeeding books, it is dominated by scene. He has few equals in New England landscapes and perhaps none in describing her coastline, especially the jagged rock and spruce covered coast of Maine. It was also said of all of his novels that the quality of his "prose style so perfected and shaped that it is difficult to find anywhere a poorly written sentence." What follows is a brief description of his works.

The Garretson Chronicle

In his novel, ''The Garretson Chronicle'', depicting three generations of a Massachusetts family, he deals with satirizing the decline of Emersonain New England, and the battle with the mountain (a modern version of ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whit ...

''). The narrator-hero of the novel is a young boy who has never been content with his job as the village carpenter and is always searching for roots and a sense of accomplishment. This novel was promoted for 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 1948.

The Wayward Pilgrims

''The Wayward Pilgrims'' is a novel about a young university instructor, traveling around the state of Vermont, who meets an older woman, at a train depot, who teaches him about her experiences in life.

''The Department''

The narrator of the novel is Robert "Sandy" Sanderling, a professor of American literature with a degree from Harvard, who is planning his retirement speech. Looking back over his life, he feels that he has accomplished very little and his one novel, ''Aftermath'' was not the book he had hoped it would be; his marriage was a disaster; he has no real friends in his department, and the profession of teaching and the field of scholarship have changed and left him behind. It is also one of the first novels portraying the institutional and personal responses to political influences on college campuses during the 1960s.

List of works

He wrote eleven novels and, in addition, literary works such as ''The Age of the Novel'' (1957) and ''The Stuff of Fiction'' (1969). In 1976 he published his autobiography, ''Days That Were'', which included his own illustrations. Most of Brace's novels are set in New England. They include: *''The Islands'' (1936), set in Maine *''The Wayward Pilgrims'' (1938), set in a Vermont train depot *''Light on a Mountain'' (1941) *''The Garretson Chronicle'' (1947) *''A Summer's Tale'' (1949) *''The Spire'' (1952 *''Bell's Landing'' (1955) *''The World of Carrick's Cove'' (1957), a nominee for the 1958 National Book Award for Fiction *''Winter Solstice'' (1960) *''The Wind's Will'' (1964) *''The Department'' (1968/1983), which was translated and published in Bengali in 1970

Students

Philip R. Craig Philip R. Craig (December 10, 1933 – May 8, 2007) was a writer known for his Martha's Vineyard mysteries. Biography He was born in Santa Monica and raised on a cattle ranch near Durango, Colorado. In 1951 he attended Boston University intendi ...

(1933–2007) was a writer known for his

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

mysteries.

Awards

He was a 1958

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 ...

nominee for fiction. In 1967 he won the Shell Award for Distinguished Writing from Boston University.

References

Sources

*Brace, Gerald Warner. ''Days that Were''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1976. . *Burlingame, Dwight F. ''Philanthropy in America: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''. ABC-CLIO, Inc. . * Cleave, Egbert. ''Cleave's biographical cyclopaedia of homoeopathic physicians and surgeons''. Philadelphia: Galaxy publishing company, 1873. *Lindgren, Charlotte Holt. ''Gerald Warner Brace: Writer, Sailor, Teacher''. New Hampshire: Hollis Publishing Company. 1998. . * Raymond, Marcius Denison. ''Gray genealogy : being a genealogical record and history of the descendants of John Gray, of Beverly, Mass., and also including sketches of other Gray families''. New York: Higginson Book Company, 1887. * Raymond, Marcius Denison. ''Sketch of Rev. Blackleach Burritt and related Stratford families : a paper read before the Fairfield County Historical Society, at Bridgeport, Conn., Friday evening, Feb. 19, 1892''. Bridgeport : Fairfield County Historical Society 1892. *Showalter, Elaine. ''Faculty towers : the academic novel and its discontents''. Oxford : Oxford University Press ; Philadelphia : Published in the United States by the University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. . *Siemiatkoski, Donna Holt ''The descendents of Governor Thomas Welles of Connecticut, 1590-1658, and his descendants''. Baltimore : Gateway Press 1990.

External links

The Children's Aid Society

Orphans' stories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brace, Gerald Warner 1901 births 1978 deaths Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery The Frederick Gunn School alumni Amherst College alumni Harvard University alumni Dartmouth College faculty Williams College faculty Mount Holyoke College faculty Boston University faculty Writers from Massachusetts Writers from Maine Writers from New York (state) People from Hancock County, Maine People from Islip (town), New York Yale College alumni