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35

There were a couple of other literary characters in the offing whom I didn't know but who were friends of my father. They were Harold McGrath, the well—known detective story writer, and L. Frank Baum, the creator of the Wizard of Oz books. Both of these men lived out on James Street as I remember. So there were quite a few writers in my background, one way or another: Mrs. Southworth, John Southworth, E. Alexander Powell, Hervey Allen, L. Frank Baum and Harold McGrath. In addition, some years later Jack Van Duyn married a writer, who became Janet Van Duyn who wrote a modestly successful book titled "I Married Them." Many years after that, Janet became an instructor at the Famous Writers School at Westport, Conn. and she criticized several of my assignments, making it abundantly clear that she wasn't at all impressed with my writing talents

My newspaper reading started with the funnies, where I followed the vicissitudes of Mutt and Jeff, Buster Brown, Jiggs and Maggie, Abie the Agent, and many more. And I remember two news stories very well, the sinkings of the TITANIC and the LUSITANIA, the former by collision with an iceberg and the latter torpedoed by a German submarine in May 1915, and both of them news even to this day. 

VI

This chapter will deal with my early schooling. As I've noted I skipped kindergarten and began the first grade at Miss Fanny Baldwin's private school on Oak Street right next to the Grays' gray stone mansion and burn. I can remember little about Fanny's school. I started there, I think, in January 1910, going there for one term and then transferring that fall to Lincoln School, the public grammar school for our neighborhood, and located same five blocks from us at the crest of Lincoln Hill, beyond which you could look south into the east—west valley dividing the eastern half of the city; I recall that there were probably not over a half—dozen pupils in my class at Fanny's. We met at her home in comfortable domestic surroundings, quite informally, and she began teaching us reading, writing and arithmetic under relaxed and very refined conditions. Why my parents started me in a private school, I don't know unless it was because I was a bit on the frail, innocent side and they were afraid of what I'd encounter at the public school. However, going to private school was not unusual in Syracuse because way down on James Street just a couple of blocks from downtown, was Goodyear School, a private institution, where many families sent their offspring to get a complete elementary education. Jimmie Halsted went there for years as did others of my friends; in fact, I think more of my crowd went to Goodyear School than to public school. It was especially favored as a girl's school where they could be sheltered from the crude boobs who went to say, Lincoln, which stood between a wealthy area and a relatively poor area, and drew its student body from both sides. I've always been glad that I went the Lincoln and not Goodyear, as I think Lincoln was good for me.