Michael Foster (writer)
Encyclopedia
Michael Foster was an American novelist, journalist, screenwriter and cartoonist. Born August 29, 1904, in Hardy, Arkansas
, he died March 25, 1956, in California
.
Foster was a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute and became a reporter and cartoonist for newspapers in Salina, Kansas
, Los Angeles, California, and, by 1937, Seattle, Washington
. His nickname was "Gully."
In 1926, he was working on the Los Angeles Express
, a daily newspaper. A fellow reporter, Charles Harris Garrigues
, wrote that Foster
Foster's first novel, Forgive Adam, was published in 1935 by W. Morrow and Co. Margaret Wallace of the New York Times said of the author:
The second novel, American Dream, came in 1937. American Dream told the story of "a disillusioned newspaperman who discovers through old family letters what America meant to the writers and what America should mean to him. Several scenes are reminiscent of the tawdry political atmosphere rendered in Ben Hecht
's and Charles MacArthur
's 1928 play, The Front Page
.".
Los Angeles Times reviewer Milton Merlin said that the work was:
Two books followed — To Remember at Midnight (1938) and House Above the River (1946).
About his final book, The Dusty Godmother (1949). reviewer A.C. Spectorsky wrote in the New York Times that Foster had
Garrigues wrote in 1957 after Foster's death that when Foster "had done penance to his father by The American Dream, he had done all he had to do. . . . he had written himself out when he made peace with his father, who was dead; after that, he drank himself to death trying to find something that was not in him."
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, he died March 25, 1956, in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Foster was a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute and became a reporter and cartoonist for newspapers in Salina, Kansas
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
, Los Angeles, California, and, by 1937, Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. His nickname was "Gully."
In 1926, he was working on the Los Angeles Express
Los Angeles Express (newspaper)
The Los Angeles Express was a newspaper published in Los Angeles in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Founded in 1871, the newspaper was acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1931. It merged with the Los Angeles Herald and became an evening newspaper known as the Los Angeles Herald-Express...
, a daily newspaper. A fellow reporter, Charles Harris Garrigues
Charles Harris Garrigues
thumb|upright|right|C.H. Garrigues,about 1941Charles Harris Garrigues was a California writer and journalist who wrote as C.H. Garrigues. He was a general-assignment reporter in Los Angeles, California, in the 1920s, a grand jury investigator and political activist in the 1930s, a newspaper copy...
, wrote that Foster
writes, paints, and has been called the second most promising of the young poets in America by the . . . [ Literary DigestLiterary DigestThe Literary Digest was an influential general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, Public Opinion and Current Opinion.-History:...
] — doesn't know one note of music from another and improvises the most beautiful piano music . . . He roomed down at the house for a while until we had a fight over a novel he's writing and then he moved out — went on a three weeks' drunk and only started back to work when I threatened to knock his block off if he didn't.
Foster's first novel, Forgive Adam, was published in 1935 by W. Morrow and Co. Margaret Wallace of the New York Times said of the author:
Michael Foster, a young newspaper man on the Pacific Coast, is the newest recruit to the ranks of the hard-boiled novelists. In the brief declarative sentences of his prose style, in his method of consistent understatement, in his attitude of weary and rather self-conscious disillusionment, he has aligned himself with the school of Hemingway and his imitators.
The second novel, American Dream, came in 1937. American Dream told the story of "a disillusioned newspaperman who discovers through old family letters what America meant to the writers and what America should mean to him. Several scenes are reminiscent of the tawdry political atmosphere rendered in Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
's and Charles MacArthur
Charles MacArthur
Charles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter.-Biography:Charles MacArthur was the second youngest of seven children born to stern evangelist William Telfer MacArthur and Georgiana Welsted MacArthur. He early developed a passion for reading...
's 1928 play, The Front Page
The Front Page
The Front Page is a hit Broadway comedy about tabloid newspaper reporters on the police beat, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which was first produced in 1928.-Synopsis:...
.".
Los Angeles Times reviewer Milton Merlin said that the work was:
not an entirely satisfying novel, but it is an ambitious enterprise and an exceptionally compelling story told with feeling and facility. . . . Foster, a Seattle reporter, chooses a member of his profession for his central figure. Shelby Thrall, a disillusioned idealist at 30, reviews three generations of Thralls in an attempt to recapture the meaning of the "American Dream." Shelby's recollections, stirred by a pile of old, crumbling letters in the attic, cover a span of three generations . . . .
Two books followed — To Remember at Midnight (1938) and House Above the River (1946).
About his final book, The Dusty Godmother (1949). reviewer A.C. Spectorsky wrote in the New York Times that Foster had
expanded a slick-magazine short story into a light novel which disappoints largely because it has frequent and unfulfilled intimations and overtones of being far more than just that.
Garrigues wrote in 1957 after Foster's death that when Foster "had done penance to his father by The American Dream, he had done all he had to do. . . . he had written himself out when he made peace with his father, who was dead; after that, he drank himself to death trying to find something that was not in him."
Filmography
- Fireside Theatre, "Second Elopement," story, 1954
- Hallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of FameHallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
, The Big Build Up," story, 1952
- Studio One in Hollywood, "The Dusty Godmother," story, 1950
- Collaborated with Winston Miller on the writing of Titanic for Selznick International.
External links
- Sketch of Michael Foster in the Los Angeles Times, page C7, November 20, 1938 A library card may be needed to access this link.