THE JOHN O'HARA SOCIETY

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From a February 25, 1961 letter to Bennett Cerf:

... Random House is getting rich on my money, and I am not getting rich on my money. Your wife and sons will get and are getting the benefit of my work, but my wife and my daughter are not. Your wife and sons are in Random House, I am not; I contribute to the financial well being of Random House; your wife and sons do not.
____
                                                        The Gunboat and Madge

On February 25, 1967 the publication of the short story "The Gunboat and Madge." The Saturday Evening Post. And Other Stories. Gibbsville, Pa.

Around 1910 drifter Jay Fitzpatrick (Europe, Africa, South America) arrives in The Region (probably Gibbsville) under the name of Gunboat Dawson for a prizefight, which he proceeds to throw. He settles down, works as a bartender, short-order cook and bouncer in a saloon-restaurant-speakeasy which he eventually buys. He hooks up with Madge Shevlin, half owner of a beauty salon.

Here they are at The Stage Coach (the roadhouse in Appointment in Samarra).

   The Stage Coach became their favorite place, and as it was the favorite place of other couples who could not meet at home, Jay and Madge became members of a set that consisted of free-spending, hearty-eating, heavy-drinking patrons of the Stage Coach and of sporting events and charity balls given by fraternal organizations. The women among them were all customers of the LaFrance Beauty Salon; the men patronized saloons and speakeasies that were frequented by men who shaved every day, and most of Jay's customers did not shave every day. The source of his spending money, however, was at least as legitimate as that of other members of the Stage Coach set. The only trouble about his money was that he had less of it than the bootleggers, the gamblers, and the contractors who shared income with the politicians. He tried to move in with the bootleggers and gamblers, and they politely brushed him off; the contractors would have no part of him. The politicians liked his bean soup, and they would come to his joint at four o'clock in the morning after committee meetings, but they gave him no opportunity to present his case as a prospective committeeman.
   He spent all he made ...