Irita Bradford Van Doren (March 16, 1891 – December 18, 1966) was an American literary figure and editor of the '' New York Herald Tribune'' book review for 37 years.

Biography

Born Irita Bradford in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, she moved with her family to

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

, when she was four. Her father owned and operated a sawmill there. He was killed by a disgruntled former employee when Irita was nine, leaving her mother to support four children. She gave music lessons, mostly to children, and sold homemade preserves. Bradford graduated from the

Florida State College for Women Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

in 1908. She studied at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

for her doctorate 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 ...

while teaching part-time at Hunter College. While at Columbia, she met fellow grad student

Carl Van Doren Carl Clinton Van Doren (September 10, 1885 – July 18, 1950) was an American critic and biographer. He was the brother of critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. He won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autob ...

, who was studying politics and government. He was a member of the literary Van Doren family, and later won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Benjamin Franklin. They married in 1912, and had three daughters together. They divorced in 1935. In 1919, she and her husband joined the staff of ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'', where she succeeded him as literary editor in 1923. The following year, she became assistant to

Stuart Sherman Stuart Pratt Sherman (1881–1926) was an American literary critic, educator and journalist known for his philosophical "feud" with H. L. Mencken. The two men were very close in age, and their career paths have sometimes been compared, but Mencke ...

, book editor of the ''New York Herald Tribune''. When he died in 1926, Van Doren succeeded him. Holding this post until 1963, Van Doren became an influential and prominent figure in American letters. She also hosted the popular

Book and Author Luncheon {{Infobox radio show , name = Book and Author Luncheon , image = , image_size = , alt = , caption = , other_names = , format = Talk radio , runtime = , start_time = , end_time ...

s, sponsored by the American Booksellers Association and the ''Herald Tribune'', from 1938 to 1963. Radio broadcasts of the luncheons on

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

began in 1948. Due to a mutual interest in southern history (Van Doren was the granddaughter of

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

General William T. H. Brooks), she met Wendell Wilkie, the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

presidential nominee in 1940. Publicly good friends, they carried on a lengthy romantic affair. She introduced him to the literary world and assisted in writing his speeches and books. The Irita Van Doren Book Award was established in 1960 by the publisher of the ''Herald Tribune''. Despite the urging of many, she never wrote her memoirs, referring to herself as "the nonwriting Van Doren".

References

Bibliography

* ''

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 ...

'', December 19, 1966 * ''

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' was published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first proposed to the Council in 1920 by hi ...

'', Supplement 8: 1966-1970. American Council of Learned Societies, 1988.

External links

Book and Author Luncheon
a
The WNYC Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Doren, Irita Bradford 1891 births 1966 deaths Editors of New York City newspapers New York Herald Tribune people Irita Bradford Van Doren Hunter College faculty Florida State University alumni Columbia University alumni Writers from Tallahassee, Florida Writers from Birmingham, Alabama Journalists from Alabama The Nation (U.S. magazine) people 20th-century American journalists