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Vincent Starrett in Chicago Tribune

A LINE O' TYPE OR TWO
Hew to the Line, let the quips fall where they may.
Reg. U.S.
Pat. Office

LENNA GLACKENS: HER BOOK

"I feel like counting my blessings today because of the pleasant weather," Lenna Glackens once wrote; "so, not being aware of any blessings in the present, I shall go over those that shall be mine in the future. I expect to be a columnist, and what a satisfying profession that is!"

Well, yes and no, but I have never been readier to believe it than while reading the bright ironies of Lenna Glackens. She went on to say why she believed the life of a columnist would be so satisfying. There would be the satisfaction of expressing her thoughts in print, of being read, of doing something, however slight, to change this "hypnopoedic world," of producing something that would be worth money. And other admirable reasons. Finally, there would be the satisfaction of getting the column done and having the rest of the day free.

She would have made an excellent columnist, somewhat in the Heywood Broun tradition, which I think was her ambition. A sardonic humor informs her prose sketches; her point of view was modern—not modernistic—enlightened and profoundly intrepid, as one of her friends expressed it. She loved animals, and gardens, and truth tellers, and all the freedoms. I wish I had space to quote her "Intimations of Success." Here are a few lines of it anyway:

"When I am an influence I will not behave like so many famous women. In interviews, I will not try to endear the public to me by pretending to envy their obscurity and simplicity. I will not be photographed frying potatoes, or publish my favorite recipe, or talk about my husband ..." Etc. What a pity that she did not have her chance.

Lenna Glackens was born Dec. 6, 1913, and died June 3, 1943. She was the daughter of W.J. Glackens, the famous American painter, and was herself a talented draughtsman. The "columns" she wrote for her own pleasure, a few enchanting essays, and a handful of poems and drawings are, perhaps, all that we shall ever have in covers from this inspired and delightful personality. They have been gathered together in a slim volume called "I Want to Be a Columnist," compiled and edited by Mary Fanton Roberts and published by the Exposition Press of New York. Now that it has come my way, I should not care to be without it.

[[right margin]] Good wishes! V.S. [[/right margin]]