E.B.White

[[image:http://www.qotd.org/sigs/White,E_B.png width="140" height="48"]]
=Elwyn Brooks (E.B.) White=

THE BEGINNING

 * Born July 11th 1899, Mount Vernon, New York
 * Born to a middle-class family with loving and caring parents
 * Youngest of six children

//“When you reflect that the great majority of men are born in heathen lands in dense ignorance and superstition it is something to be thankful for that you have the light that giveth life."// - //Samuel White (E.B. White's 12th birthday)//
 * Parents encouraged their children to be thankful for and to love the life that they had

// "All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world." - E.B. White //
 * Reflects the influence White's parents had on him
 * Love of life and the world

EDUCATION

 * Public schools in Mount Vernon[[image:http://it.pinellas.k12.fl.us/Teachers8/RoseE/images/7BCA55A349124D78B4FEAD633A15B3A6.jpg width="146" height="230" align="right"]]
 * Never wanted to read his work aloud or give speeches
 * Always wrote speeches and let someone else read it
 * Military service
 * Cornell University
 * //Cornell Daily Sun//
 * 1919: Studied under William Strunk Jr.
 * //The Elements of Style//
 * Graduated 1921

CAREER

 * Turned down teaching offer from the University of Minnesota to pursue his writing career

//“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting laundry.” - E.B. White//


 * 1921-22: Worked for United Press International and the American Legion News Service.
 * 1922-23: //Seattle Times//.
 * //The Conning Tower// alongside Franklin P. Adams
 * 1925: //Defense of the Bronx River// in the //New Yorker//(the most important and famous magazine of the time)
 * //C//ontributing editor in 1927

THE NEW YORKER

 * Favorite Subjects
 * Complexities of Modern Society
 * Failures of Technological Progress

// “Computing machines perhaps can do the work of a dozen ordinary men, but there is no machine that can do the work of one extraordinary man.” - E.B. White //


 * Rural and Urban Community
 * War and Internationalism
 * Advocated respect for nature and simplistic living
 * 1929: White published his first poetry collection // The Lady Is Cold //
 * Reflected White's interest in "the small things of the day" and "trivial matters of the heart"
 * Married New Yorker editor Katharine Sergeant Angell and his son was born the same year.
 * Sixty years of Contribution to the New Yorker
 * The beauty of pure writing style
 * Frank language
 * Model of simple, yet elegant writings (non-fiction)
 * Became the most important contributor
 * Renowned for essays as well as //Notes and Comments//pieces
 * Set the tone of informed, intelligent, tolerant, faintly amused city life in observations on the passing scene, a feature that continued even after his death
 * //Is Sex Necessary// (With fellow editor James Thurber)

OUTSIDE THE NEW YORKER
//"A writer's style reveals something of his spirit, his habits, his capacities, his bias...it is the Self escaping into the open.” - E.B. White//
 * 1933: //Alice Through the Cellophane//
 * Critiques the petty annoyances and disturbing trends of modern society
 * 1934: //Every Day Is Saturday//
 * A collection of White's //Notes and Comments// pieces reflecting fashion, politics, and cultural trends
 * 1936: //Farewell My Lovely!//
 * One of his best known pieces in the //New Yorker//[[image:http://flcenterlitarts.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/e_b_white2.jpg width="166" height="231" align="right"]]
 * 1938: //The Fox of Peapack//
 * Collection of poems
 * Started a monthly column //One Man’s Meat// for //Harper Magazine// (5 years)

A NEW BEGINNING

 * 1939: Quit his job at the //New Yorker//and Moved to North Brooklin, Maine
 * Had a farm with many animals which served as inspiration for writings
 * Helped dispel depression he sometimes felt
 * 1941: //A Sub-treasury of American Humor//

CHILDREN’S NOVELS AND ESSAYS

 * 1945: //Stuart Little,// first children’s book
 * 1946: //The Wild Flag//(Essay)
 * After WWII, became a supporter of internationalism and published a collection of essays titled under //The Wild Flag//
 * 1949: //Here is New York//(Essay)
 * Celebrated New York City
 * 1952: Returned to children’s books and published //Charlotte’s Web//, his best children’s book
 * 1956: //The Ring of Time//(Essay)
 * discussed segregation

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
//"You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing.” - E.B. White (Charlotte’s Web)//
 * Enduring Influence on children
 * Introduced young readers to the world of fiction and literature
 * Conveyed the themes of loyalty, tolerance, morality

THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

 * 1959: Revised //The Elements of Style//
 * Added //“An Approach to Style”//

//"Place yourself in the background; do not explain too much; prefer the standard to the offbeat.” - E.B. White//
 * Grammatical handbook for writers of American English
 * Allowed for a better reception
 * Began receiving many awards for accomplishments
 * Gold Medal for Essays and Criticism from the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1960
 * Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963
 * Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his children's books in 1970
 * National Medal for Literature in 1971. In 1973 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
 * //The Elements of Style// remains in use today (in print for five consecutive decades)

THE END

 * Died of Alzheimer’s Disease on October 1, 1985 in Brooklin, Maine

//“Life's meaning has always eluded me and I guess always will. But I love it just the same.” - E.B. White//
 * love of the world, life, and nature clearly reflected and conveyed in his works
 * supported by the simplistic, frank writing style he employed
 * far-reaching literary contributions as a prominent writer and essayist