George P. Putnam
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George Palmer Putnam (September 7, 1887 – January 4, 1950) was an American publisher, writer and explorer. Known for his marriage to (and being the
widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...
er of)
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
, he had also achieved fame as one of the most successful promoters in the United States during the 1930s.


Early life

George Palmer Putnam was born in
Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...
on September 7, 1887, the son of
John Bishop Putnam John Bishop Putnam (July 17, 1849 – October 7, 1915) was treasurer and a director of the book publishing firm founded by his father, G.P. Putnam & Sons. He was the father-in-law of Amelia Earhart, being the father of her husband, George P. Putn ...
and the grandson of his namesake,
George Palmer Putnam George Palmer Putnam (February 7, 1814 – December 20, 1872) was an American publisher and author. He founded the firm G. P. Putnam's Sons and ''Putnam's Magazine''. He was an advocate of international copyright reform, secretary for many years ...
, founder of the prominent publishing firm that became
G. P. Putnam's Sons G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam and J ...
. He studied at
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 ...
and the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. In 1911, Putnam married Dorothy Binney (1888–1982), the daughter of
Edwin Binney Edwin Binney (November 24, 1866 – December 17, 1934) was an American entrepreneur and inventor, who created the first dustless white chalk, and along with his cousin C. Harold Smith (born London, 1860 - died, 1931), was the founder of handicraft ...
, inventor and co-owner, with cousin C. Harold Smith, of Binney & Smith Inc., the company that made
Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylvan ...
crayons. They had two sons, David Binney Putnam (1913–1992) and George Palmer Putnam, Jr. (1921-2013), and for a time lived in
Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...
, where Putnam was the publisher and editor of the local newspaper, the ''
Bend Bulletin ''The Bulletin'' is the daily newspaper of Bend, Oregon, United States. ''The Bulletin'' is owned by EO Media Group, which prior to January 2013 was named the East Oregonian Publishing Company. Over the years, a number of well-known journalists h ...
''. He was mayor of Bend from 1912 to 1913. Putnam left Bend in 1915 to become the private secretary to Oregon Governor
James Withycombe James Withycombe (March 21, 1854 – March 3, 1919) was an English-American Republican politician who served as the 15th Governor of Oregon. Biography Withycombe was born to tenant farmers Thomas and Mary Ann Withycombe in Tavistock, England, ...
. Within a few years, George and Dorothy moved to the
East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...
, where Putnam entered the family publishing business in New York City. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Putnam served with the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
field artillery. In 1926, under the sponsorship of the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
, he led an expedition to the
Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
, up the west coast of
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
. The following year he headed another expedition for the
American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the ...
to collect wildlife specimens on
Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...
.


1920s and 1930s business interests

In July 1927 Putnam was responsible for the blockbuster publication of ''"We"'',
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
's autobiographical account of his early life and his
Orteig Prize The Orteig Prize was a reward offered to the first Allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.Bak. Pages 28 and 29. Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before the rela ...
winning non-stop transatlantic solo flight from New York to Paris in May of that year. The book was one of the most successful non-fiction titles of all time, selling more than 650,000 copies in less than a year and earning its author over $250,000 (). In 1927, Putnam's wife,
Dorothy Binney Dorothy Binney Putnam Upton Blanding Palmer (July 20, 1888 – May 9, 1982) was an American explorer, socialite, and friend to Amelia Earhart. Early life Palmer, born Dorothy Binney on July 20, 1888, was the daughter of Edwin Binney, the manu ...
, traveled to South America and began a long, well-chronicled affair with George Weymouth, a man 19 years her junior; Putnam would leave Binney two years later. Many thought that George had left his first wife for
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
, although for Binney, it was her own ticket out of an unhappy marriage. In 1930, the various Putnam heirs voted to merge the family's publishing firm with Minton, Balch & Co., which became the majority stockholders. George P. Putnam resigned from his position as secretary of G. P. Putnam's Sons and joined New York publishers Brewer & Warren as vice president. A significant event in Putnam's personal and business life occurred in 1928, before the merger. Because of his reputation for working with Lindbergh, he was contacted by
Amy Phipps Guest Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''"Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886–19 ...
, a wealthy American living in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, who wanted to sponsor the first-ever flight by a woman across the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. Guest asked Putnam to find a suitable candidate, and he eventually came up with the then-unknown aviator,
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
. As it turned out, they shared many common interests: hiking, swimming, camping, riding, tennis and golf. When Putnam first met Earhart he was still married to Binney. After she completed her flight across the Atlantic, Putnam offered to help Earhart write a book about it, following the formula he had established with Lindbergh in the writing of ''"WE"''. The resulting Earhart book was ''
20 Hrs., 40 Min. ''20 Hrs. 40 Min.: Our Flight in the Friendship'' is a book written by pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart. It was first published in 1928 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, but has continued to be reprinted in periodic new editions. A special "Author's ...
'' (1928). When they began writing, Putnam invited Earhart to live in his home, because he felt it would make the process easier. Shortly after, Binney left for South America. George and Dorothy divorced in 1929. Putnam had undertaken to promote Earhart in a campaign that included lecture tours and mass-market endorsements for luggage,
Lucky Strike Lucky Strike is an American brand of cigarettes owned by the British American Tobacco group. Individual cigarettes of the brand are often referred to colloquially as "Luckies." Throughout their 150 year history, Lucky Strike has had fluctuating ...
cigarettes (this caused image problems for her, and ''
McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-for ...
'' magazine retracted an offer) and other products.Pearce 1988, p. 76. Putnam and Earhart made their relationship official shortly after his divorce was finalized, but they didn't marry until 1931. Earhart's ideas on marriage were liberal for the time, as she believed in equal responsibilities for both "breadwinners" and pointedly kept her own surname. GP, as she called him, soon learned that he would be called "Mr. Earhart". There was no honeymoon for the newlyweds because Earhart was involved in a nine-day cross-country tour promoting autogyros and the tour sponsor,
Beech-Nut Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation is a baby food company owned by the Swiss branded consumer-goods firm Hero Group. History Beech-Nut's roots go back to 1891, to the Mohawk Valley town of Canajoharie, New York. Raymond P. Lipe, along with his ...
chewing gum. Although Earhart and Putnam had no children, he had two sons by his previous marriage, the explorer and writer David Binney Putnam (1913–1992) and George Palmer Putnam, Jr. (1921–2013). Earhart was especially fond of David who frequently visited his father at their family home in
Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...
. George had contracted
polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
shortly after his parents' separation and was unable to visit as often. Following Earhart's successful 1932 solo transatlantic flight, Putnam again organized her public engagements and speaking tour across the United States. Earhart joined the faculty of Purdue University College of Technology in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and as a technical advisor to the Department of Aeronautics. Earhart disappeared in 1937 while on her second attempt to complete a
circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...
al flight of the globe. In addition to her first work, Putnam published two other books Earhart wrote about flying, ''
The Fun of It ''The Fun of It'' is Amelia Earhart's second book after her travelogue ''20 Hrs., 40 Min.'' Summary In it Earhart recollects how she became interested in being an aviator, and also becoming aviation editor for ''Cosmopolitan Magazine ''Co ...
'' (1932), a memoir of her flying experiences and an essay on women in aviation and '' Last Flight'' (1937), consisting of letters and memorandum compiled by Putnam after her disappearance. Putnam also published her biography in 1939 under the title ''Soaring Wings: A Biography of Amelia Earhart''. Although a major blaze at the Putnam residence in Rye destroyed many family treasures and Earhart's personal mementos, Putnam later donated some of Earhart's belongings, including photographs, private letters and a flight jacket, to
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
, where she had worked as a career counselor. Other personal effects were sent to the Women's Archives in New York. Putnam had Earhart declared dead on January 5, 1939, and remarried on May 21 of that year to Jean-Marie Cosigny James.


Later years

In 1938, Putnam set up a new publishing company in California, George Palmer Putnam Inc. With America's entry into
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1941, Putnam resumed active service, joining an intelligence unit as a captain and rising to the rank of major by 1942. In 1945, he and "Jeannie" divorced; she had initiated the action, citing incompatibility. Shortly after, he remarried again, to Margaret Havilland. They operated the Stove Pipe Wells resort in Death Valley, California.Ridgecrest, Barbara
"Death: Putnam, George Palmer."
''ancestry.com''. Retrieved: March 15, 2015.
In the book ''Death Valley Handbook'' (1947), Putnam was the binomial author of the plant taxon ''Gilia mohavensis'' (H.Mason) Putnam."Plant Name Details for 'Gilia mohavensis'."
''
IPNI The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) describes itself as "a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and lycophytes." Coverage of plant names is best at the rank of species and genus. It inclu ...
'', March 17, 2013.
The name has since slipped into
synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
with ''Linanthus mohavensis'' H.Mason, its
basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...
(or original species name). George Putnam authored a number of books, including: * ''Death Valley and Its Country'' (1946) * ''Death Valley Handbook'' (1947) * ''Hickory Shirt'' (1948) * ''Hot Oil'' (1935) * ''In the Oregon Country: Out-doors in Oregon, Washington, and California, Together with some Legendary Lore, and Glimpses of the Modern West in the Making'' (1915) * ''Smiting the Rock: A tale of Oregon'' (1918) * ''Soaring Wings: A Biography of Amelia Earhart'' (1939) * ''Wide Margins'' (1942 autobiography) * ''Up In Our Country'' (1950)


Death

In late 1949, Putnam fell ill at his home in the Stove Pipe Wells, California resort in Death Valley, suffering from kidney failure. He died in Trona, California on January 4, 1950, aged 62. His body was cremated and the ashes interred in the
Chapel of the Pines Crematory Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street, Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California, in the historic West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown. It is beside Angelus-Ros ...
in
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.


Honors

Amelia Earhart, Putnam's second wife, was the first president of The
Ninety-Nines The Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, also known as The 99s, is an international organization that provides networking, mentoring, and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots. Foun ...
, an organization of (originally) 99 female pilots formed in 1929 for the support and advancement of aviation. Putnam had proposed an award as a means of honoring anyone who supports an individual member of the group (known as a "49½"), a Chapter or Section, or the organization as a whole. The "George Palmer Putnam 49½ Award" was originated to recognize such exceptional support of The Ninety-Nines. In 1927, the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...
made Putnam an "Honorary Scout", a new category of Scout created that same year. This distinction was given to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys..."."Around the World."
''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
,'' August 29, 1927. Retrieved: October 24, 2007.
Due to his relationship with Amelia Earhart, Putnam has been the subject of numerous feature and documentary films including: ''
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...
'' (1976) with
John Forsythe John Forsythe (January 29, 1918 – April 1, 2010) was an American stage, film/television actor, producer, narrator, drama teacher and philanthropist whose career spanned six decades. He also appeared as a guest on several talk and variety s ...
portraying Putnam. In ''Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight'' (1994),
Bruce Dern Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has often played supporting villainous characters of unstable natures. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver B ...
played him. The documentary '' Amelia Earhart: The Price of Courage'' (1993) from ''American Experience'' also featured the Putnam-Earhart marriage.
Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...
portrayed Putnam in the 2009 movie, '' Amelia''.Ebert, Roger
Amelia
''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'', October 21, 2009. Retrieved: July 13, 2017.


Popular culture

In ''Flying Blind'', a "Nathan Heller" novel by
Max Allan Collins Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic novels. His work has been published in several formats and his ''Road to Perdition'' series was the basis for a film of the same name. He wrote the '' Di ...
, George Putnam is a major character, but is portrayed as a villain using Earhart for his own purposes.


References

Notes Citations Bibliography * Butler, Susan. ''East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart''. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1997. . * Chapman, Sally Putnam, with Stephanie Mansfield. ''Whistled Like a Bird: The Untold Story of Dorothy Putnam, George Putnam, and Amelia Earhart''. New York: Warner Books, 1997. . * Goldstein, Donald M. and Katherine V. Dillon. ''Amelia: The Centennial Biography of an Aviation Pioneer''. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, 1997. . * Greenspan, Ezra. ''George Palmer Putnam: Representative American Publisher''. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000. . * Lovell, Mary S. ''The Sound of Wings''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. . * Pearce, Carol Ann. ''Amelia Earhart''. New York: Facts on File, 1988. . * Wohl, Robert. ''The Spectacle of Flight: Aviation and the Western Imagination, 1920–1950''. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2005. .


External links

* *
George Palmer Putnam
* *
Amelia Earhart (subscription required)

Earhart's Life and Marriage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Putnam, George P. American book publishers (people) 20th-century American biographers American explorers American travel writers 1887 births 1950 deaths Amelia Earhart Editors of Oregon newspapers United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army personnel of World War II Death Valley Mayors of places in Oregon Harvard University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni People from Bend, Oregon People from Inyo County, California People from Rye, New York Deaths from kidney failure Burials at Chapel of the Pines Crematory Writers from California Writers from New York (state) Writers from Salem, Oregon 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century publishers (people) United States Army officers