Malcolm Cowley

Introduction

Malcolm Cowley, 1898-1989, is described by the Encyclopedia Britannica as an “American literary critic and social historian who chronicled the writers of the 'Lost Generation' of the 1920s and their successors; literary editor of The New Republic [which EB describes as “one of the most influential liberal magazines in the United States from its founding in 1914”] from 1929 to 1944.” First brought to our attention by Dennis Roddy, former bureau manager of the Nanty Glo Journal, Cowley was born in Belsano and died in Milford, Conn. He wrote introductions to and edited works by Thornton Wilder, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner and other leading literary lights of the 20th century.

Answer of Question No. 1

They gave me a party on my 80th birthday in August 1978. First there were cards, letters, telegrams, even a cable of congratulation or condolence; then there were gifts, mostly bottles; there was catered food and finally a big cake with, for some reason, two candles (had I gone back to very early childhood?). I blew the candles out a little unsteadily. Amid the applause and clatter I thought about a former custom of the Northern Ojibwas when they lived on the shore of Lake Winnipeg. They were kind to their old people, who remembered and enforced the ancient customs of the tribe, but when an old person became decrepit, it was time for him to go. Sometimes he was simply abandoned, with a little food, on an island in the lake. If he deserved special honor, they held a tribal feast for him. The old man sang a death song and danced, if he could. While he was still singing, his son came from behind and brained him with a tomahawk.

Answer if Question No. 2

That was quick, it was dignified, and I wonder whether it ...