William Maxwell Evarts "Max" Perkins was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Thomas Wolfe.
15 Facts About Maxwell Perkins
2.
Maxwell Perkins grew up in Plainfield, New Jersey, attended St Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and then graduated from Harvard College in 1907.
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Nonetheless, Maxwell Perkins remained Fitzgerald's friend to the end of Fitzgerald's short life, in addition to his editorial relationship with the author, particularly evidenced in The Great Gatsby, which benefited substantially from Maxwell Perkins' criticism.
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Maxwell Perkins fought for it over objections to Hemingway's profanity raised by traditionalists in the firm.
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The greatest professional challenge Maxwell Perkins faced was posed by Thomas Wolfe's lack of artistic self-discipline.
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At first grateful to Maxwell Perkins for discovering and mentoring him, Wolfe later came to resent the popular perception that he owed his success to his editor.
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Maxwell Perkins's advice was responsible for the success of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, whose The Yearling grew out of suggestions made by Perkins.
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Maxwell Perkins persuaded Jones to abandon the autobiographical novel he was working on and launched him on what would become From Here to Eternity.
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Maxwell Perkins recognized skilled writing wherever he found it and encouraged writers as few editors did.
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That Ring Lardner has a reputation today, for example, is because Maxwell Perkins saw him as more than a syndicated humorist.
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Maxwell Perkins believed in Lardner more than the writer did, and despite the failure of several earlier collections he coaxed Lardner into letting him assemble another under the title How To Write Short Stories.
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In 1910, Maxwell Perkins married Louise Saunders, of Plainfield, together they had five daughters.
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Maxwell Perkins died on June 17,1947, in Stamford, Connecticut, from pneumonia.
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Maxwell Perkins left the home to family members, including her son Maxwell.
15.
Maxwell Perkins's granddaughter Ruth King Porter is a Vermont writer, and one of his grandsons is the Riptide TV series actor Perry King.