Wilder Hobson
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Wilder Hobson (February 18, 1906 – May 1, 1964) was an American writer and editor for ''
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 ...
'' (1930s-1940s), ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' (1940s), ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' (1950s), and ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' (1960s) magazines. He was also a competent musician (
trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
), author of an history of American jazz, and long-time contributor to '' Saturday Review'' (1940s, 1950s, 1960s) magazine. Also, he served on the planning committee of the
Institute of Jazz Studies The Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS) is the largest and most comprehensive library and archives of jazz and jazz-related materials in the world. It is located on the fourth floor of the John Cotton Dana Library at Rutgers University–Newark in Newa ...
.


Life


Early years

Born in 1906, Hobson attended
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. There, he was a roommate of
Dwight Macdonald Dwight Macdonald (March 24, 1906 – December 19, 1982) was an American writer, editor, film critic, social critic, literary critic, philosopher, and activist. Macdonald was a member of the New York Intellectuals and editor of their leftist maga ...
, with whom he produced campus humor magazine ''
The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...
''. He was a 1928 member of
Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Yale secret societies and reputedly the wealthiest. The society is one of the reputed "Big Three" societies ...
. Famed American documentary photographer
Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...
captured Hobson and Agee on a Long Island beach during the summer of 1937, when Evans and Agee were visiting Hobson and his first wife Peggy. (The
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
houses those photos, which are also available online—see "Images," below.)


Magazines

Hobson wrote for ''Time'' in the 1930s and 1940s. After covering a coal strike during the 1930s, he helped lead unionization at ''Time'' and became the first head of ''Times
Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's business practice ...
branch. In October 1942, Hobson succeeded the late
Calvin Fixx Calvin Fixx, born Calvin Henry Fix (August 1, 1906 – March 3, 1950), was an American journalist and editor, lifelong friend of Robert Cantwell and friend of Whittaker Chambers, both fellow editors at ''Time'' magazine. All three were either M ...
as assistant editor to
Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...
, then editor of Arts & Entertainment. Other writers working for Chambers included: novelist
Nigel Dennis Nigel Forbes Dennis (16 January 1912 – 19 July 1989) was an English writer, critic, playwright and magazine editor. Life Born at his grandfather's house in Surrey, England, Dennis was the son of Lt.-Col. Michael Frederic Beauchamp Dennis, DS ...
, future ''
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 d ...
'' Book Review editor
Harvey Breit Harvey Breit (1909 - April 9, 1968) was an American poet, editor, and playwright as well as reviewer for ''The New York Times Book Review'' from 1943 to 1957. Career Breit began his writing career at ''Time'', where he worked from 1933 to 193 ...
, and poets
Howard Moss Howard Moss (January 22, 1922 – September 16, 1987) was an American poet, dramatist and critic. He was poetry editor of ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1948 until his death and he won the National Book Award in 1972 for ''Selected Poems''. B ...
and
Weldon Kees Harry Weldon Kees (February 24, 1914 – disappeared July 18, 1955) was an American poet, painter, literary critic, novelist, playwright, jazz pianist, short story writer, and filmmaker. Despite his brief career, Kees is considered an importa ...
. Hobson worked amidst the struggle between Soviet-sympathizing and
anti-Communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
staffers at ''Time''. Chambers and
Willi Schlamm William S. (Willi) Schlamm (originally Wilhelm Siegmund Schlamm, June 10, 1904 – September 1, 1978) was an Austrian-American journalist. Biography Schlamm was born into an upper middle class Jewish family in Przemyśl, Galicia, in the Austrian ...
led the anti-Communist camp (and both later joined the founding editorial board of
William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
's ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...
''). Theodore H. White and
Richard Lauterbach Richard Edward Lauterbach (June 18, 1914, New York - September 20, 1950, New York) was the ''Time'' magazine Moscow bureau chief during World War II. Background Lauterbach was born in New York in 1914. He studied China and the Far East under Pro ...
led the pro-Soviet camp. ''Time'' founder
Henry R. Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time (magazine), Time'', ''Life (magazine), Life'', ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine. He has been called ...
came to support the anti-Communist camp before the end of World War II in 1945. Hobson, however, rode out the storm and even managed to write two books at ''Time'': a historical study called ''American Jazz Music'' (1939—see "Music," below) and a novel called ''All Summer Long'' (1945). When Chambers received a promotion to senior editor in September 1943 and then joined ''Times senior editorial group in December 1932, Hobson succeeded to the Arts & Entertainment section. He hired friend Walker Evans to write reviews first on Film and then on Art (1943–1945). In 1946, Hobson moved to editorial board of ''Fortune'', where he worked until severe writer's block caused him to resign. In November 1950, Hobson became managing editor of ''Harper's Bazaar'' (then with a circulation of 340,605), replacing
Frances MacFadden Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis (given name), Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "French ...
, who retired after 18 years in that position. Later, Hobson joined ''Newsweek'', where he worked for a decade. Hobson become a contributor to the (now defunct) ''Saturday Review'' during the late 1940s, the 1950s, and into the 1960s.


Later life with Verna Hobson

Hobson was a heavy alcoholic and died at the age of 58 in 1964 of gastrointestinal hemorrhage in
Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
. Hobson married his second wife, Verna Harrison (1923–2004), in the mid-1940s after meeting at ''Time''. At first they lived in Manhattan but moved to Princeton. Each year, they summered on Squirrel Island, Maine while playing in the Hennessy Five Star Orchestra. Mrs. Hobson worked 1954-1966 as secretary to
Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is often ...
, then director of the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
. After her husband's death in 1964, she moved to London and worked first for the American Association of University Women and then for the London branch of
Robert Matthew Sir Robert Hogg Matthew, OBE FRIBA FRSE (12 December 1906 – 2 June 1975) was a Scottish architect and a leading proponent of modernism. Early life & studies Robert Matthew was the son of John Fraser Matthew (1875–1955) (also an archite ...
, Johnson-Marshall, architects. In 1976, she returned to America and settled in
New Gloucester New Gloucester is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, in the United States. It is home to the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, the last active Shaker village in the U.S. The town's population was 5,676 at the 2020 census. New Gloucester is part ...
, Maine, working for the independent weekly ''New Gloucester News'' and also helping to re-establish ''The Squirrel Island Squid''. In 1998, she became a photographic stringer for ''The Lewiston Sun''. In 2001, she moved to
New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...
, to live with her son Archie's family. Verna Harrison Hobson died on April 13, 2004.


Music

In 1939, Hobson became the second American to write a major book on jazz, ''American Jazz Music'' ( A year earlier, colleague
Winthrop Sargeant Winthrop Sargeant (December 10, 1903 – August 15, 1986) was an American music critic, violinist, and writer. Early life Sargeant was born in San Francisco, California on December 10, 1903. He studied violin in his native city with Albert Elku ...
, a staff writer at ''Life'', had published ''Jazz—Hot and Hybrid''). Sargeant believed that the "swing" in jazz derived from complex African multi-rhythms adapted to relatively simple Western music. Hobson and Sargeant—both amateur, though well informed, jazz enthusiasts—believed that jazz came from New Orleans bordellos, whereas in the 1930s European scholars like
Robert Goffin Robert Goffin (21 May 1898 – 27 June 1984) was a Belgian lawyer, author, and poet, credited with writing the first "serious" book on jazz, ''Aux Frontières du Jazz'' in 1932.Epperson. Life Robert Goffin was born in Ohain, Brabant Province i ...
of Belgium and
Hugues Panassié Hugues Panassié (27 February 1912 in Paris – 8 December 1974 in Montauban) was a French Music criticism, critic, record producer, and impresario of traditional jazz. Career Panassié was born in Paris. When he was fourteen, he was stricke ...
of France had already ascribed (correctly) that jazz was a "vernacular-based art." Wilder's close ancestors were
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
"Downeasters" and he played summers on Squirrel Island in
Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...
with the Hennessy Five-Star Orchestra, which slide-trombonist Wilder joined in 1921 at age 15. Wilder's second wife Verna later became a tuba player. Family members still return, where, as of 2001, the Hennessy band was "still alive and well." Daughter Eliza Hobson became a jazz disc jockey and broadcast journalist as well as playing piano and guitar. A biography of ''Time'' colleague Weldon Kees includes a reminiscence of Kees on piano and Hobson on trombone in the Greenwich Village home of James Agee's sister.


Publications


Books

* ''American Jazz Music''. (NY: W.W. Norton
1939
republished i
1941
and 1976) * ''All Summer Long''. (New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce
1945



Articles

*

" ''Time'', April 10, 1939 *

" ''Time'', April 17, 1939 * "An Album of Chinese Paintings," ''Life'', October 11, 1943, 7 pp * "The Business Suit - A short and possibly tactless essay on the costuming of American enterprise," ''Fortune'', July 1948, illustrated by
Bernarda Bryson Bernarda Bryson Shahn (March 7, 1903 – December 12, 2004) was an American painter and lithographer. She also wrote and illustrated children's books including ''The Zoo of Zeus'' and ''Gilgamesh.'' The artist Ben Shahn was her "life companion ...
* "The Gospel Truth," ''
Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...
'', May 30, 1968. vol. 35, p. 19. (posthumous)


Photos


Metropolitan Museum of Art
- photo of Wilder Hobson by Walker Evans in 1937 (one of 30 in collection)
Portsmouth Herald
- Wilder Hobson as part of the Hennessy Five Star Orchestra on Squirrel Island in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine


Notes


Sources

* Herzstein, Robert E. ''Henry R. Luce, Time, and the American Crusade in Asia'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005). * Rathbone, Belinda. ''Walker Evans: A Biography'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books, 1995). * Reidel, James. ''Vanished Act: The Life and Art of Weldon Kees'. (University of Nebraska Press, 2007). * Tanenhaus, Sam. ''Whittaker Chambers: A Biography'' (New York: Random House, 1997). .
Down Beat
magazine


External links


1979 Audio Interview with Verna Hobson by Martin Sherwin
Voices of the Manhattan Project * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobson, Wilder American music critics People from New Gloucester, Maine Writers from New Rochelle, New York Yale University alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers Journalists from New York (state) 1906 births 1964 deaths People from Southport, Maine 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 20th-century American male writers