St. Clair McKelway
Encyclopedia
St. Clair McKelway was a writer and editor for The New Yorker
magazine beginning in 1933. He was brought up in Washington D.C., and began his journalistic career as an office boy at the Washington Herald
. While working at the New York Herald Tribune
, he was described by Stanley Walker as, "One of the twelve best reporters in New York." He served as a managing editor for journalistic contributions at The New Yorker from 1936 to 1939, after which he was a staff writer. During World War II
, he held public relations posts for the Army Air Force, leaving the service with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
In 1950, he collected several of his pieces for The New Yorker in the book True Tales from the Annals of Crime & Rascality. One article from that collection was the basis for the 1950 movie Mister 880
, starring Edmund Gwenn
as a small-time counterfeiter of one dollar bills, who eluded the United States Secret Service
for ten years, from 1938 to 1948. St. Clair McKelway also wrote screenplays for two other movies in 1948: Sleep, My Love, directed by Douglas Sirk, and The Mating of Millie, starring Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes,. He published the book The Edinburgh Caper: A One-Man International Plot, based on a New Yorker article, in 1962.
In 2010, Bloomsbury USA published a paperback-original collection of 18 of McKelway's works, Reporting at Wit's End: Tales from the New Yorker (ISBN 978-1-60819-034-8), with an appreciative introduction by Adam Gopnik
of the New Yorker.
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine beginning in 1933. He was brought up in Washington D.C., and began his journalistic career as an office boy at the Washington Herald
Washington Herald
The Washington Herald was an American daily newspaper in Washington, D.C., from October 8, 1906, to January 31, 1939. The Herald merged with the Washington Times on February 1, 1939, to become the Washington Times-Herald, which was purchased and merged with The Washington Post in 1954....
. While working at the New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
, he was described by Stanley Walker as, "One of the twelve best reporters in New York." He served as a managing editor for journalistic contributions at The New Yorker from 1936 to 1939, after which he was a staff writer. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he held public relations posts for the Army Air Force, leaving the service with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
In 1950, he collected several of his pieces for The New Yorker in the book True Tales from the Annals of Crime & Rascality. One article from that collection was the basis for the 1950 movie Mister 880
Mister 880
Mister 880 is a 1950 film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Edmund Gwenn, and Millard Mitchell. It was based on an article by St. Clair McKelway that was first published in The New Yorker and later collected in McKelway's book True Tales from the Annals of...
, starring Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn
Edmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor.-Background:Born Edmund John Kellaway in Wandsworth, London , and educated at St. Olave's School and later at King's College London, Gwenn began his acting career in the theatre in 1895...
as a small-time counterfeiter of one dollar bills, who eluded the United States Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
for ten years, from 1938 to 1948. St. Clair McKelway also wrote screenplays for two other movies in 1948: Sleep, My Love, directed by Douglas Sirk, and The Mating of Millie, starring Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes,. He published the book The Edinburgh Caper: A One-Man International Plot, based on a New Yorker article, in 1962.
In 2010, Bloomsbury USA published a paperback-original collection of 18 of McKelway's works, Reporting at Wit's End: Tales from the New Yorker (ISBN 978-1-60819-034-8), with an appreciative introduction by Adam Gopnik
Adam Gopnik
Adam Gopnik, is an American writer, essayist and commentator. He is best known as a staff writer for The New Yorker—to which he has contributed non-fiction, fiction, memoir and criticism—and as the author of the essay collection Paris to the Moon, an account of five years that Gopnik, his wife...
of the New Yorker.