O'Hara UnFriends Gill

LOA Befriends Pal Joey

By JAMES MacDONALD

Exeter, England

The Library of America has just published John O'Hara's libretto for Pal Joey in a two-volume collection called American Musicals, edited by Laurence Maslon.

 

I'm delighted, having waited for it for more than fifty years. I was afraid Wilie O'Hara Dalaney, O'Hara's daughter, was going to give the rights to the Richard Greenberg rewrite; but it's the real thing, all right. It also marks O'Hara's first appearance in LOA.

Incidentally, I read John Updike's New Yorker review of The Art of Burning Bridges. A terrific corrective of O'Hara's taciturn image, as well as of his feud with Brendan Gill. Apparently the break with the magazine had little to do with Gill's A Rage to Live review; O'Hara asked to be paid for stories the magazine rejected.

 

Mr. New Yorker

By RICHARD CARREÑO

[WritersClearinghouse News Service]

Brendan Gill was ten years younger than O'Hara, but his level of production -- sheer wattage in words contributed to The New Yorker -- probably exceeded John O'Hara's output. Gill wrote fiction, drama, film, and architecture reviews, comment, and profiles. Short of Harold Ross and William Shawn, Gill was 'Mr. New Yorker.' That distinction wasn't lost on O'Hara; it was probably enough to put him on O'Hara's very long enemies list.

Putting O'Hara's enmity over the top was Gill's negative of review in The New Yorker of O'Hara's blockbuster, A Rage to Live. Their relationship was already testy. Gill wore his Irish gently. O'Hara did not. Gill's Yale education and Scull & Bones membership came to him naturally. O'Hara was always striving for Ivy-covered totems and Establishment acceptance.

Reader's Request

If you know where the following comes from, please contact me via WritersClearinghouse@yahoo.com:

'The trouble with him was not that he had enemies; everybody has enemies. His trouble was that he had no friends.'

Many thanks,
Richard Carreño

Carreño-Checket Collection Formed

NEW JOHN O'HARA COLLECTION AVAILABLE @philabooks|booksellers, an on-line Philadelphia bookshop that's unique in featuring titles by and about the author John O'Hara, has merged its extensive catalog with an exclusive, privately-owned O'Hara collection to create a now one-of-a-kind compilation of the legendary New Yorker writer's works. The new catalog, consolidated as the Carreño-Checket Collection, is named for Richard Carreño, the managing partner of @philabooks, and the late James Checket of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a private collector and a member of the John O'Hara Society. Carreño is a founding member of the Society. @philabooks entered into the merger agreement with James Checket's estate, administered by his widow, Sally Miller. The newly assembled collection includes more than one hundred titles, with firsts of virtually all of O'Hara's English-language and foreign language editions. The collection, when fully fleshed out, will also include photographs, magazines, and related ephemera. As such, it will be among the most comprehensive non-institutional O'Hara collections anywhere. Carreño said he and Miller want to maintain the collection as a unit. Their aim, he said, is to sell or donate the collection to a private or public institution that can safeguard it as well give the public access to it. Interested parties can contact Carreño via philabooks@yahoo.com. A regularly updated catalog is also available via www.philabooks.webs.com. Updates will also be posted to the John O'Hara Society blog via www.OHaraSociety.blogspot.com.

Contact us at JohnOHaraSoc@yahoo.com. We're always looking for contributors and comment. Join the conversation! © 2011 Writers Clearinghouse Est. 1976 @ Fabyan, Connecticut.

Harrisburg Hails O'Hara

Photo: Writers Clearinghouse/Joan T. Kane

O'Hara Gets His Due in Penn State Capital


O'Hara Society member Christine Goldbeck of Middleton, Pennsylvania, right, lectured 11 November on the Master and A Rage to Live, set in a fictional Harrisburg. With her is member Erica Ramus from Pottsville and Society facilitator Richard Carreno of Philadelphia. Also present was Pal Joan T. Kane of Philadelphia, above seated. After Christine's lecture, about 75 attendees gathered for a screening of the 1965 film A Rage to Live inspired by the book. The lecture was held at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore as part of the Second Annual Harrisburg Book Festival. Carreno also represented @philabooks|booksellers, an on-line bookshop that specializes in books by and about John O'Hara.

Your Thoughts?

O'Hara Field Trip: Your Thoughts?
Post Here, or E-Mail Richard via JohnOHaraSoc@yahoo.com



O'Hara Society Field Trip 13 August: A Correspondence


From: Richard Carreno
My recommendations aren't new; but they remain UNVISITED sites. In no chronological order:


Belle and O'Hara apt;
8 East 52nd Street

Pickwick Arms
230 East 51st Street (Second/Third Aves)

Quentin Reynolds and O'Hara
114 East 53rd Street (1934)

London Terrace
470 West 24th Street (1937)

Rooming House (First Digs)
107 West 43rd Street
103 East 46th Street

From: Robert Knott:
Here are some additional thoughts:

-Paley Center, 25 West 52nd. They are open from 12-6. Because "Appointment" is digitized, more than two people can watch at once. We can all proceed to the library floor, load the program and watch it at the same time with two people looking at each screen. Admission to the museum is $10, $8 for seniors and allows us 2 hours of library time, enough to watch this one hour program.

I feel like we have already hit most of the other obvious targets, but there are always the residences that we did not look at last time:

103 East 46th (between Lex and Vanderbilt)


107 West 43rd (between 6th and 7th)


Pickwick Arms Club, 230 East 51st (2nd and 3rd)

Another idea within walking distance might be quick visits to the Broadway theatres where "Pal Joey" has played. The original production seems to have divided its run between three different houses: The Ethel Barrymore on 47th; the Shubert on 44th; the St. James on 44th.

I will try to arrange a meal or drink at BUtterfield 8 in the next few weeks and get a feel of the place and whether or not it might be too crowded for us to congregate at some point during the day.

Let me know your thoughts. I will drop a check in the mail re: "Chips." I didn't know you were working on that. Will be interested to see what you've put together.

From: Richard Carreno
Well done! A brilliant find. My feeling is that we shud go to BUtterfield 8 for post-tour drinks -- much cheaper than Algonquin. It's NOT the price re Connolly's necessarily, but OTHERwise we really after NO post-tour site.

From: Robert Knott:
I'm hoping to send a more robust e-mail later today with suggestions, but wanted to get your reaction to this unbelievably appropriate resturant/bar: http://www.butterfield8nyc.com/ I don't know how crowded they get, but I wondered if this might be an idea for lunch instead of Connolly's, or maybe drinks later. It's a little further south and might be a touch pricier. Let me know your thoughts and I can investigate more.

BUtterball 4

Despite her Academy
Award Liz Disses O'Hara Film

Elizabeth Taylor, who died last month, was miscast in the 1960 stinker potboiler rehash BUtterfield 8, the film version of the John O'Hara novel. And she knew it. According to 4 April edition of New York, she 'hated' the picture and referred to it BUtterball 4. Sure sounds like a slam. Meaning what exactly isn't explained.

--RDC

Update from AGM

Master's Memory Invoked at 29 Jan AGM

From left, Joan T. Kane, Carol Gramer, Jenny Saliba, Robert Saliba, Robert Knott (Photo: John O'Hara Society)

I've joined the picture, second from left. (Photo: John O'Hara Society)

We gathered, as usual, at the Nassau Inn, Princeton, New Jersey, for lunch and an Annual General Meeting to remember the Master. We had hoped for a greater attendence yesterday (Saturday, 29 January); only seven members showed up. But given the weather conditions in the Northeast, perhaps that was not unexpected. It snowed heavily last week, and it was coming down again when he headed home to Philadelphia in the late afternoon.

 The good news on this front was that I heard from many members, mostly via our Group Page at Facebook.com, that they wish they could attended. Many more opportunities will be available. (By the way, can't resist mentioning that the canopy of snow that covered the trees as we headed north was beyond beautiful).

Two meetings have been firmed up. One, this summer in New York. We will tour more O'Hara related sites, Part II of our very successful excursion we conducted last summer. As a special, we will be attending an O'Hara theatre night at Yale in October. Details about those two dates will follow.

Of course, we're looking for as many Pals as possible to attend. Someone asked if you had to an O'Hara expert to join the Society or attend meetings. Absolutely not! Just bring your curiousity.

Robert Knott distributed another DVD, 'He Married His Wife,' a 1940 picture with Joel McCrea that O'Hara received a screenplay credit for. Also we got another CD in a series of radio show remembrances about O'Hara.

We also launched an informal contest to come up with a Society logo. Anyone can enter. We'll probably have a prize for the winner. At this point, I have no clue what that might be. We're thinking -- in keeping with the Master's club-mania -- that this winning logo design will be incorporated into a necktie, a pin, and signet ring. OK, that last one, the ring, is a bit much. But we'll see where we'll go with this.

Contest submissions, as an attachment, should be made to me at JohnOHaraSoc@yahoo.com. Of course, please send all your personal details so that you can get credit.

--- Richard Carreno 

Contact us at JohnOHaraSoc@yahoo.com. We're always looking for contributors. Join the conversation! © 2010 Writers Clearinghouse. Est. 1976 @ Fabyan, Connecticut.

The Rodney Dangerfield of Belles Lettres

No Respect for John O'Hara
By Richard Carreno
John O'Hara gets no respect. Nothing new about that. O'Hara, Pottsville native, is the Rodney Dangerfield of American belles lettres.

Members of the John O'Hara Society, based in Philadelphia, have been lamenting that forever. Fitzgerald. Hemingway. Even John Updike get the props. O'Hara gets dissed.

The latest instance: Last Sunday in The Philadelphia Inquirer. John Timpane dredges up a story about a 'global' conference of the John Updike Society in Reading. Timpane gets all gushy about Updike being a Pennsylvania author. You mean the guy who spent most of his life in New England.

Sure. O'Hara, America's greatest 20th century short writer, lived most of his life outside of PA, as well. But unlike Updike, PA never left O'Hara.

Timpane notes fan groups for Mark Twain and Hemingway. Never a mention of the John O'Hara Society.

That's not new, as well.

I've been interviewed by at least two Inquirer reporters. Nothing ever gets in print.
  As always, John O'Hara gets no respect.

No, It Wasn't Drinking

O'Hara's Social Disease

By Richard Carreno
The late Sheilah Graham, the Hollywood gossip columnist, is almost always linked to F. Scott Fitzgerald as his mistress for the last three and a half years of his besotted life before the author's death, in 1940, at 44. Of course, Graham helped create this hardly missing link by mining her relationship with Fitzgerald for all it was worth in a series of tell-all books that told all -- over and over again.

Despite that repetition, her reminisces are interesting, engaging, and rather frank. (Fitzgerald used to call her a 'cunt' and, when drunk, wouldn't be shy in telling utter strangers that she was a 'good lay').

Less known, at least to me, was how John O'Hara would keep popping in Fitzgerald's life in Hollywood as a personal guest in Encino, fellow party guest in Hollywood, or just as general New York-connected hanger-on.

But was the big, brash, bear-like O'Hara shy around Graham, a knock-out blond with a sharp tongue and even sharper eye for the rich and the powerful?

O'Hara was no Lothario. Graham, on the other hand, was known to have had her share of men. (Before Scott, she counted eight in all, according her tally reported in The Real F. Scott Fitzgerald: Thirty-Five Years Later, a memoir -- yes, another tell-all -- published in 1976. Let's assume we can multiply that by at least a factor of five).

Somehow, O'Hara got to drive Graham home after she had an interview with Errol Flynn.

Unlike many a squire with a similar opportunity, it seemed that O'Hara didn't want to weazle an invitation to go in and make out. In fact, he left the motor of his car running -- sure sign that he meant to make tracks.

Graham recalled that O'Hara was making it plain that he wasn't about to investigate whether she was a 'good lay' or not.

'Does he think I'm going to rape him or something?' she thought at the time. Ouch!

Besides, Graham reported, O'Hara was suffering from a 'social disease' at the time. How she knew that, she never said.

O'Hara Takes Manhattan

Crowd gathers at Connolly's Pub to watch Pal Richard harangue group. Photo/Writers Clearinghouse

New York City Field Trip
New York
After lunch at Connolley's Pub on 47th, off Fifth, about a dozen members soldiered on, well-fed and watered and in good spirits, spending the balmy afternoon Saturday (12 June) hitting several of the notable sites in Mid-town associated with the Master.

Two of them, 21 and the Algonquin, are well-known John O'Hara watering holes, and the later being, as well, sort of a club-room for many former New Yorker staff writers.

From Connolley's, our next stop, a few blocks uptown, was the Italianate palazzo on Madison Avenue that now houses the Palace Hotel.(Remember Lenora Hemsley, 'The Queen of Mean'? She owned the p(a)lace).

Back in the day, though, the building's north wing housed Bennett Cerf's 'serfdom,' Random House. We re-enacted the iconic tableau, of the 1960's, when O'Hara steam-rolled his Silver Cloud Roller into the palazzo's courtyard. There, to be greeted by the fawning Cerf, who, in recognition of another O'Hara publishing event, presented JOH with another engraved, silver cigarette case.

Pal Carol Gramer tried to get us a tour of what might be left of the publisher's HQ, now an urban research centre. She knocked on the door.'The place is closed,' she said.

Onward to 21,just a short hop across Fifth. Drinks? Nibbles? Also closed. No lunch on Saturdays. Still, Carol marched in and inquired of a busy receptionist if we --members of the intrepid John O'Hara Society -- could visit the basement quarters, the site of 21's original speakeasy. The receptionist was duely impressed. 'No,' she said.

Step forward, to the rescue, a tall, well-spoken gentleman who identified himself as 'Rev.' Turns out 'Rev' is a Baptist minister. Also the chief men's room toilet attendant.'The job has been in my family since 1949,' he said. At first, we thought he owned the joint.

We didn't tour the speakeasy, but thanks to Rev we did get a tour of the men's toilet, boasting risque murals over its urinals. Female pals were impressed with thse self-flushing urinals. Apparently, they haven't ever seen such modern contraptions, circa 1965. (Male pals wondered what technological advancements might be found in the ladies loo. We checked. At least, no off-colour murals. What is the meaning of this?).

Rev also gave us a walkabout of the restaurant proper, during which time Pal Steve Goldleaf was videoing the proceedings. (Watch it on YouTube, when we get it posted later this week. If we can figure it out).

Shortly thereafter, We gathered in front the restaurant for a few minutes, getting our bearings before trotting off to the Yale Club. (Vanderbilt Avenue, across from Grand Central Station). But at that point, we noticed that he had 'lost' Steve. After about five minutes later or so, he sheepishly emerged from 21. 'Sorry, I was chatting to Rev.' (Had a Baptist conversion occurred. Steve wasn't talking).

Once we saw the wedding crowd, spilling into Vanderbilt Avenue, in front of the Yale Club, we realised that a visit was near impossible. This, despite Carol Gramer's powers of persuasion.

Plan B. The old HQ of the The New Yorker, off Fifth on 43rd Street. A plaque recognised the building as a 'literary site,' and listed many of the literary luminaries who had set foot through the building's portal. Everyone, that is, except John O'Hara, of course. 'What else is new,' said Pal Robert Saliba.

Actually, nothing. Another plaque screwed into the front of the Algonquin Hotel also had no mention of The New Yorker's most prolific short story writer -- and the one indididual who, by the bye, defined the template of the magazine's short fiction. (Never mind, we're used to that).

What we were also getting used to by this time was getting rebuffed. He had hoped to scamp through 25 West 43rd Street via its arcade to get to 44th Street and the Algonquin. No soap! says the guard. 'But we're, we're members of the John...' says
Carol. Oh, never mind.

We looped around Sixth Avenue instead, nestling ourselves comfortably in the hotel's lounge. A load off our feet. And load from our wallets. Mixed drinks at $18 a shot. Beer at $7 per bottle.

Of course, the Society's storming of Manhattan wasn't all fun and games.

Earlier, thanks to ring-master Pal Richard Carreno, we actually conducted a bit of house-keeping.

Most important, Robert Saliba and Robert Knott were awarded Pal Joey Awards for their work in promoting the cause. Robert S. for his brilliant annotation of Appointment in Samarra. (See separate page at this website, always being updated). Robert K. for tireless efforts in arranging this Field Trip event, as well as being PR agent for our most recent Princeton AGM. (He gets a Pal Joey with a cluster).

Robert K. was also appointed Society Librarian, assigned to maintaining our archive. Robert has also volunteered to to re-record portions of the WVIA-FM tape, as well as some O'Hara-related videos he has in his possession. Robert will also be contacting WVIA-FM officers about archive materials that might want to share with us.

Steve Goldleaf has agreed to contact Wylie O'Hara, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to see if she would kindly join one of our group meetings. Be it in NYC, Cambridge, or Princeton.

Steve is also sending us the aforementioned video for posting at YouTube, and his pix file of O'Hara sites in Los Angeles. We're also hoping to post here a chapter of Steve's murder mystery re the death of F.Scott Fitzgerald. Who was the villan. Sheila Graham? Coca Cola? (Fitz drank 16 bottles of the leaded stuff a day). Or, John O'Hara? Yes, Steve relegates the Master as a Person of Interest.

Thanks to Robert Saliba, our next Field Trip will soon be arranged. Sometime this fall, we're hoping to visit the O'Hara study, transplanted from Princeton to State College, Pennsylvania, at the State University of Pennsylvania. Transportation issues should be addressed to Pal Richard.

Pal Pamela MacArthur has also agreed to arrange that copies of her scholarly work The Genteel John O'Hara be sold through this website. Details to follow. (Editor's note: The Society has abandoned its paid membership category. Wherein once paid-up members received O'Hara materials (ie books, etc.) for free, all items will now be available at cost, excluding postage, from membership HQ (JohnOHaraSoc@yahoo.com).

A new review of The Genteel John O'Hara will soon be appearing here.

Also attending were Joan T. Kane, Jenny Saliba, Heidi Schubert, Nancy Karvellas, and Helene Ashner.        

Old Pix

Pal Matt in Pottsville
I came across these pix, in hardcopy, recently, of Pal Matt Bruccoli, one of the Master's greatest biographers, and me at a O'Hara meeting in Pottsville in 2007, a year before Matt died. I first got to know Matt in the late 1970's, via telephone, when I was a reporter for the Worcester Telegram, and later The Boston Globe, when I was reporting on literary matters, including John O'Hara and the late George Frazier. Matt was always a great source.
--RDC

Society 2010 AGM in Princeton

Society AGM Set for Princeton in January The John O'Hara Society Annual General Meeting will be held Saturday, 30 January, at the Nassau Inn in Princeton, New Jersey. Pals will meet at 12:30 PM for drinks, and later for lunch at the Inn. Settlement of bills will be an individual matter. There will no formal programme. The AGM will honour the 105th birthday of the Master, born 31 January 1905 in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. The meeting is open to one and all, though only paid-up members will be able to raise business issues and vote on these matters. Discussion regarding new premiums is welcome. So are paid membership applications.  After the lunch, members might want to explore the Master's adopted hometown, including the Nassau Club, his gravesite, his former house, and the like. If anyone has O'Hara ephemera, books, and the like that they wish to give away or sell, that's welcome too. A RSVP to Richard Carreno at JohnOHaraSoc@yahoo.com is requested. But not required. There's frequent train service from Philadelphia and New York to Princeton. Questions, suggestions to Richard at 267|253|1086.

Richard Merkin RIP: O'Hara Acolyte

All Boutonniere-ed Up By Richard Carreno Junto Staff Writer There were two sides to Richard Merkin, artist, writer, bon vivant, flaneur, raconteur, bull-shitter, who died Saturday, at 71, in New York of a heart attack. There was the Providence, Rhode Island, Merkin. There was the New York Merkin. There were probably other 'sides' to Merkin that I didn't know. But the list I mention, based on the I Merkin I knew in Providence and Boston, seems enough for one life. It was a life that he shared generously with those, like me, who needed guidance in men's fashion -- oh yeah, Merkin was a toff, too -- and a glib, cheeky quote for an upcoming newspaper story. The Merkin I knew -- mostly in the 70s and 80s -- was a teacher, as well. (He was a graduate and a long-time instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design). His presence in Providence as a man-about-town was legendary. I don't think anyone else in Prov at that time was wearing a bowler as everyday hatwear. And Savile Row bespoke suits. And Lobb shoes. The bowler, from Lock, not surprisingly. Or anyone who sucked up as many fancy-Dan cigs (Turkish tabac, I suppose) from a silver case. We used to meet for lunch, drinks. He'd show me around the galleries near Brown. Hey, I was getting an education. That was the New England Merkin. Image-wise, an Amtrak ride away in New York, I suppose he cut a similar swath, with his favourite croc shoes and boutonniere. But that was the West Side Merkin I didn't know -- the writer for GQ, a pornography boffin, and, in later years, a cover artist for The New Yorker. (How could this immaculate man, seriously, be an artist? Where was the paint under the fingernails? Merkin's nails were always buffed). There was yet another Merkin. He was also a man of letters. His GQ column was named 'Sense of Style' -- a direct steal from George Frazier's old col in Esquire. He was one of the acolytes of Charlie Davidson -- he of The Andover Shop in Cambridge -- as was Chris Lydon and, to a much lesser degree, myself, as well. We were all sorta Frazier manque, especially after George died -- what was it? -- in 1971. Still, there was the Merkin-Frazier controversy. It was probably even reported in The Boston Globe. That would be, of course, the old Boston Globe. The Globe that Frazier used to write for. Frazier thought it correct to wear a pocket hankerchief and a boutonniere at the same time. Merkin thought that was painting the lilly. High dungeon, that stuff.  For all of us, the big cheese was John O'Hara. From O'Hara, all flowed. And, yes, O'Hara sided with Merkin regarding the pocket square/boutonniere dust-up. I think Charlie, ever the fiercest Frazier-ite, even agreed with that.   (For detailed obituary, go to www.Junto.blogspot.com).

An O'Hara Showcase

News Bits

Philadelphia::12 January 2009

Hello, All!

Some news bits:

1. If you've visited our site recently, you will have noticed at new Beta format, an upgrade from the previous format. For now, it is still a work in progress, as I add, substract, and multiply the features. Good job there's no division! But all in all, it is time-consuming, and so please bear with me.

2. O'Hara CDs and other media will be produced and distributed. I confirmed this last night! More to come on this!!!

3. Feedback re a membership fee that I have received so far as been in favour. I suppose someone will object, but I've yet to hear from that person/persons. Consequently, at the AGM, 30 January, I will move for a $15 per annum membership fee. Why? Simple, as a way to cover mailing fees for FREE CDs and other materials. Initially, as well, I'm planning to send FREE to all paid-up members copies of O'Hara books from my collection. If you choose not to subscribe, that's OK. But CDs, books, etc., will be distributed to you at cost, plus P/H. Also, only paid-up members will have voting rights at future AGMs. Access to the website will always remain FREE!

If you have thoughts regarding the above, let me know!

Cheers from here,
Richard