Maxwell Struthers and Katharine Newlin Burt

Maxwell Struthers Burt (October 18, 1882

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, Maryland – August 29, 1954,

Jackson Hole Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unit ...

, Wyoming), was an American novelist, poet, and short-story writer.

Life

Struthers Burt grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended private schools and worked at a city newspaper.Richard Walser
"Burt, (Maxwell) Struthers,"
''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography'' (Chapel Hill: North Carolina Press, 1979). He graduated from

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in 1904, then attended the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

, and Merton College at

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. Following his return to the United States, he taught English at Princeton. In 1908, he moved to Wyoming and co-founded the JY Ranch with Louis Joy, which would later become the famous Rockefeller ranch of the same name. In 1912, following a dispute with Joy, he established his own dude ranch, the

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. That same year, he met and married his wife, Katharine Newlin Burt, an author of Western novels. They had two children: Nathaniel Burt (1913-2003) and Julia Bleecker Burt Atteberry (1915-1986). Burt served in the U.S. Army Air Service Signal Corps during World War I. After the war, he and his family began wintering in

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. Burt helped in the establishment of

Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton ...

when, in 1923, he met with other like-minded individuals at Maud Noble's cabin and began the process of gathering support to have the area come under protection by the Federal Government. He was also a fierce supporter of the Jackson Hole National Monument before it eventually formed the larger Grand Teton National Park. The premise of Burt's fifth novel, ''Along these Streets'', is a Westerner who inherits a large Philadelphia fortune, with the stipulation that he must move East and live in the city. Felix Bartain Macalister experiences the city's cultural traditions, and encounters various characters who attempt to guide or exploit him. Compared with contemporaneous novels, sociologist E. Digby Baltzell found it "… a far more sensitive portrait of Proper Philadelphia." This portrait, however, is painted in opposition to Proper Philadelphia's conservatism, which the main character readily acknowledges: "… I think I'm what might be called a radical liberal, but I'm for evolution, not revolution." At the end of the novel, Felix escapes and finds himself on horseback in … Wyoming. Burt's papers are housed at

and the University of Wyoming's

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United ...

. His son Nathaniel was also a published author, as is his grandson, Christopher C. Burt (b. 1954). Nathaniel Burt wrote of his late father's novels: "There is always a love story, there is always a certain strict plotting of acceptance, withdrawal, misunderstanding, and final clinch that leads to much amusing discussion of the difference between men and women, but which does not escape a sort of artificiality."Nathaniel Burt, "Struthers Burt '04," ''Princeton University Library Chronicle'', Spring-Summer 1958.

Bibliography

Poetry collections

*''In The High Hills'' (

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, Boston, 1914) *''Songs and Portraits'' (1920) *''When I Grew Up to Middle Age'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1925) *''War Songs'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1942)

Plays

*''The Mullah of Miasmia'' (1903)

Novels

*''The Interpreter’s House'' (

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan R ...

, New York, 1924) *''The Delectable Mountains'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1927) *''Festival'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1931) *''Entertaining the Islanders'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1933) *''Along These Streets'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1942)

Short story collections

*''John O'May and Other Stories'' (1918) *''Chance Encounters'' (1921) *''They Could Not Sleep'' (1928)

Non-fiction

*''The Diary of a Dude Wrangler'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1924) *''The Other Side (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1928) *''Malice in Blunderland'' (1935) *''Escape from America'' (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1936) *''Powder River: Let 'er Buck'' (

Farrar & Rinehart Farrar & Rinehart (1929–1946) was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both nonfiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Ner ...

, New York,1938) part of the

Rivers of America Series The Rivers of America Series is a landmark series of books on American rivers, for the most part written by literary figures rather than historians. The series spanned three publishers and thirty-seven years. History The Rivers of America Series ...

*''Patriotism Versus Prejudice: Hitler Forces at Work in America'' (American Jewish Committee, 1939) *''Philadelphia Holy Experiment'' (Doubleday, Doran, & Co., New York, 1945) *''The History of Cap and Gown: 1890-1950'' (Princeton University Press, 1951)

Magazine articles

(See also pseudonym "Burt Struthers") *''The Diary of a Dude Wrangler'', The Saturday Evening Post May 3, 1924 *''Beauty and the Blantons'', McCall’s June, 1925 *''Acorns'', The Saturday Evening Post Jan 9, 1926 *''Adventure'', The Saturday Evening Post Jun 30, 1928 *''Artists'', The Saturday Evening Post Jun 1, 1929 *''C’est La Guerre'', The Saturday Evening Post Feb 5, 1927 *''Democracy for Everyone'', The Saturday Evening Post Jul 30, 1932

Notes

References

* American Book Exchange
Papers and Biography in Princeton Library

External links

* * * *
Burt Family Papers
at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

- American Heritage Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Burt, Maxwell Struthers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets Writers from Baltimore Writers from Wyoming Princeton University alumni Poets from Philadelphia 1882 births 1954 deaths People from Jackson Hole, Wyoming American male novelists American male poets American male short story writers O. Henry Award winners 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Pennsylvania Writers from North Carolina Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters