Hans Otto Storm
Encyclopedia
Hans Otto Storm was a German American writer, novelist and radio engineer. His reputation quickly faded into obscurity after his early death, but in the 1940s received some positive praise from the legendary literary critic Edmund Wilson
.
Storm was born in Bloomington, California
to German parents who were refugees fleeing anti-socialist fervor in Germany following the failed Revolutions of 1848
. He studied engineering at Stanford University
and went into the newly emerging field of radio
. He traveled in south and central America, including long spells in Nicaragua and Peru. He served two years with an American Army Hospital during WWI. He died of accidental electrocution
December 11, 1941, a few days after Pearl Harbor
, while rushing to complete a large radio transformer for the Army Signal Corps in a laboratory in San Francisco.
His first novel, Full Measure (1929), is about industrial expansion and is strongest on the subject of radio engineering and equipment. It "received mildly positive reviews but sold little over a thousand copies." His next novel, Pity the Tyrannt (1937) is about an American engineer who becomes involved in a Peruvian revolution. Edmund Wilson
considered it his best work. The Tyrant of the title is based on Augusto Leguía, President of Peru from 1919 to 1930, "whose rule was marked by rebellion, suppression of his opponents, and widespread corruption." His next novel, Made in the USA (1939) is a "social fable" (Edmund Wilson) about a tramp steamer full of passengers that becomes stuck on a sand-bar in the South Pacific. Civilized behavior deteriorates and the passengers break into two warring camps. His last novel, Count Ten (1940) is his longest, it follows thirty years of the life of "Eric Marsden". In Edmund Wilson’s estimation, the novel is "very much inferior on the whole to the ones that had gone before." He also thought that it showed "what seemed internal evidence of having been written earlier than they," giving off the air of "one of those autobiographical novels that young men begin in college and carry around for years in old trunks."
Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...
.
Storm was born in Bloomington, California
Bloomington, California
Bloomington is an unincorporated census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 23,851 at the 2010 census, up from 19,318 at the 2000 census....
to German parents who were refugees fleeing anti-socialist fervor in Germany following the failed Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
. He studied engineering at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and went into the newly emerging field of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. He traveled in south and central America, including long spells in Nicaragua and Peru. He served two years with an American Army Hospital during WWI. He died of accidental electrocution
Electrocution
Electrocution is a type of electric shock that, as determined by a stopped heart, can end life. Electrocution is frequently used to refer to any electric shock received but is technically incorrect; the choice of definition varies from dictionary to dictionary...
December 11, 1941, a few days after Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, while rushing to complete a large radio transformer for the Army Signal Corps in a laboratory in San Francisco.
His first novel, Full Measure (1929), is about industrial expansion and is strongest on the subject of radio engineering and equipment. It "received mildly positive reviews but sold little over a thousand copies." His next novel, Pity the Tyrannt (1937) is about an American engineer who becomes involved in a Peruvian revolution. Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson
Edmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...
considered it his best work. The Tyrant of the title is based on Augusto Leguía, President of Peru from 1919 to 1930, "whose rule was marked by rebellion, suppression of his opponents, and widespread corruption." His next novel, Made in the USA (1939) is a "social fable" (Edmund Wilson) about a tramp steamer full of passengers that becomes stuck on a sand-bar in the South Pacific. Civilized behavior deteriorates and the passengers break into two warring camps. His last novel, Count Ten (1940) is his longest, it follows thirty years of the life of "Eric Marsden". In Edmund Wilson’s estimation, the novel is "very much inferior on the whole to the ones that had gone before." He also thought that it showed "what seemed internal evidence of having been written earlier than they," giving off the air of "one of those autobiographical novels that young men begin in college and carry around for years in old trunks."
External links
- The Hans Otto Storm Papers at the Bancroft LibraryBancroft LibraryThe Bancroft Library is the primary special collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired as a gift/purchase from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity...