When E.B. White is also Grandpa
Readers around the world know the late E.B. White as the author of classic children鈥檚 stories such as 鈥�Charlotte鈥檚 Web鈥� and 鈥�Stuart Little;鈥�; or as one-half of the writing team, with William Strunk Jr., of 鈥淭he Elements of Style鈥�; or as the man who, from his farm in Maine, wrote some of the most graceful essays in the English language.
But for another Maine writer, E.B. White was also Grandpa.
Martha White has extended her grandfather鈥檚 literary tradition by working as a writer and editor, with freelance gigs for publications as varied as The New York Times and Family Circle. She was also an editor and writer for the publisher of The Old Farmer鈥檚 Almanac and is the author of a book about home remedies for common ailments.
But Martha also keeps busy as her grandfather鈥檚 literary executor, a job that routinely consumes a week of every month. She鈥檚 edited a revised edition of E.B. White鈥檚 correspondence, and she鈥檚 also compiled and edited In the Words of E.B. White, a collection of his quotations that鈥檚 recently been published by Cornell University Press.
The new project is part of a series from Cornell in which the most celebrated words of famous thinkers are excerpted in book form. E.B. White, a Cornell graduate who died in 1985, seemed a natural for the series, although Martha wasn鈥檛 so sure at first.
鈥淚 hesitated,鈥� she recalled in a phone interview from her home in coastal Maine. 鈥淢y grandfather was very careful about being excerpted.鈥�
E.B. White鈥檚 stepson, New Yorker writer Roger Angell, was also skeptical, dubbing the concept 鈥淓.B. White Lite.鈥�
But Martha eventually gave the green light to the book idea, which she brought to reality as the project鈥檚 editor. She hopes the book will nudge readers into visiting or revisiting her grandfather鈥檚 other books, and she鈥檚 also hoping that an accurate collection of E.B. White鈥檚 most memorable observations will discourage admirers from misquoting him.
In a recent edition of the literary journal Berfrois, Martha wryly noted a tendency among public speakers and online writers to flub E.B. White鈥檚 prose: 鈥淏eing able to make right the many quotations that appear on the internet either incorrectly attributed to E.B. White, badly mangled, or completely without a source reference was one of the primary reasons I decided to edit 鈥業n the Words of E.B. White,鈥� 鈥� she wrote.
Editing 鈥淚n the Words of E.B. White鈥� required Martha to spend a year reading through her grandfather鈥檚 work, a task she also had to undertake several years ago while editing his letters. The work deepened a connection with a man Martha first came to know not as a writer, but as a treasured member of the family.
She recalls that bond in an introduction to 鈥淚n the Words of E.B. White鈥� that鈥檚 as nicely crafted as anything her grandfather ever wrote.
Here鈥檚 Martha on what it was like to grow up as the grandchild of a literary legend: 鈥淲hen an occasional classmate would ask, too breathlessly, 鈥榃hat is your grandfather like?鈥� I was apt to reply, 鈥楬e鈥檚 my grandfather. What is your grandfather like?鈥� 鈥�
The full extent of her grandfather鈥檚 fame began to dawn on her when E.B. White gave her a copy of 鈥淭he Elements of Style,鈥� his famous guide to writing that includes, among other celebrated dictums, the directive, 鈥淥mit needless words.鈥�
In true grandfatherly style, E.B. White made an exception for Martha, noting in his inscription that 鈥測ou can use all the needless words you want to.鈥�
Martha recalled that the inscription winked at another long-running family joke by ending in a preposition, a no-no among grammatical puritans. It was a rule her grandfather recognized, yet wasn鈥檛 above breaking if it suited his purposes.
Being E.B. White鈥檚 granddaughter had other fringe benefits. Rather than having to wait for her grandfather鈥檚 children鈥檚 book 鈥淭he Trumpet of the Swan鈥� to hit the bookstore, she read a hot-off-the-press copy sitting on her grandparents鈥� living room couch.
Perhaps the most memorable gift from her grandfather, Martha suggests in the new book, 鈥渨as his unsurpassed capacity for wonder 鈥� at the first pullets鈥� eggs of the season, displayed in a black bowl in the living room; at the antics of a series of small and often neurotic dogs; at a hummingbird he鈥檇 had a chance to hold in his hand; and at the joys of grandchildren....鈥�
That sense of wonder suffuses 鈥淚n the Words of E.B. White鈥� as well as his other books, most of which are still in print and quite popular more than a quarter century after his death. As her grandfather鈥檚 literary executor, Martha regularly fields requests and proposals concerning E.B. White鈥檚 work. Among recent business has been a plan for a Latvian translation of 鈥淐harlotte鈥檚 Web鈥� as well as a 鈥淐harlotte鈥檚 Web鈥� edition in Cherokee to help reintroduce that language to young members of the tribe.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of fun, that you would be able to have 鈥楥harlotte鈥檚 Web鈥� in Cherokee, so that was an easy yes,鈥� she said.
Martha also deals, to a lesser degree, with the literary estate of Katharine White, the influential New Yorker editor and garden writer who was E.B. White鈥檚 wife and Martha鈥檚 grandmother. Katharine died in 1977.
Most of E.B. and Katharine White鈥檚 descendants have worked in either writing and editing or boat-building.
Besides Angell, best known as a writer about baseball, and Angell鈥檚 sister Nancy, a science teacher who died in 1996, the family also included Joel McCoun White, Martha鈥檚 father, a prominent boat designer and builder who died in 1997.
Martha鈥檚 brother, Joel Steven White, also works in boat-building; another brother, John Shepley White, is a lobsterman.
Martha鈥檚 husband, Taylor Allen, works in boat construction, too. Of Martha and Taylor鈥檚 four children, two are in the boat business, and another son, a college student, teaches sailing during summer breaks. Martha and Taylor鈥檚 daughter, also a college student, was just offered a job editing Wikipedia.
Martha, who plans to take up work on a novel soon, said that she never felt pressured to follow in her grandparents鈥� literary footsteps.
鈥淚 got into writing because I like to read 鈥� and I couldn鈥檛 think of doing anything else,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think one thing my family has been very good about is allowing you to do what鈥檚 best for you.鈥�
鈥淚 think the best writing is often done by persons who are snatching the time from something else,鈥� E.B. White once observed.
Martha, who balances managing E.B. White鈥檚 writing with tending to her own, seems to have taken her grandfather鈥檚 advice to heart.
Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Baton Rouge Advocate and a frequent essayist for national publications, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�
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