Imagine growing up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1910s; on 53rd Street to be exact, in a house that stands today within a stone’s throw of the I-278 Gowanus Expressway. Imagine you had one pesky little sister, a grandma who lived with you, and a father who worked at a dress factory. What little boy wouldn’t love all of that?
From these early beginnings, James P. Wood developed into a noted writer and editor. He attended Columbia University, graduating in 1933 with an advanced degree. He taught English at the DuPont Manual Training High School in Louisville, Kentucky and later at Amherst College in Massachusetts, where Robert Frost was also a professor.
World War II interrupted Wood’s career, when he served in the offices of the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943-1946. He became a major and received an Army commendation medal for his efforts. While in Washington he met and married Elizabeth Craig, who was a teacher of French, Latin and Greek.
After the war, Wood became managing editor of the ever-popular Jack and Jill magazine at Curtis Publishing in Philadelphia. He was also a frequent contributor to the Reader’s Digest, Ladies’ Home Journal, Georgia Review, New England Quarterly, and American Scholar. When asked about his career, he said, “if I had not become a writer, I would have been a forester. I have been a factory worker, a helper in a tree nursery, a college professor, an editor and a few other things. I don’t like people too much, as too many of them are too much like me.”
He passed away in 1983 at the age of 77, in Springfield, Massachusetts, leaving a legacy of careful scholarly work as well as hundreds of stories for children. Following is a partial bibliography of his work:
The Presence of Everett Marsh, Bobbs, 1937
“Centenary Series in American Literature”, Funk, 1947-48
Magazines in the United States, Ronald, 1949 (with D.M. Hobart)
Selling Forces, Ronald, 1952
The Beckoning Hill, Longmans, 1954
An Elephant in the Family, Nelson, 1957
Of Lasting Interest, Doubleday, 1958
The Story of Advertising, Ronald, 1958
Advertising and the Soul’s Belly: Repetition and Memory in Advertising, University of Georgia Press, 1961
The Queen’s Most Honorable Pirate, Harper, 1961
The Elephant in the Barn, Harper, 1961
A Hound, a Bay Horse, and a Turtle-Dove: A Life of Thoreau for the Young Reader, Pantheon, 1963
Trust Thyself, Pantheon, 1964
Copyright 2013 Marie Brannon
All rights reserved
From these early beginnings, James P. Wood developed into a noted writer and editor. He attended Columbia University, graduating in 1933 with an advanced degree. He taught English at the DuPont Manual Training High School in Louisville, Kentucky and later at Amherst College in Massachusetts, where Robert Frost was also a professor.
World War II interrupted Wood’s career, when he served in the offices of the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943-1946. He became a major and received an Army commendation medal for his efforts. While in Washington he met and married Elizabeth Craig, who was a teacher of French, Latin and Greek.
After the war, Wood became managing editor of the ever-popular Jack and Jill magazine at Curtis Publishing in Philadelphia. He was also a frequent contributor to the Reader’s Digest, Ladies’ Home Journal, Georgia Review, New England Quarterly, and American Scholar. When asked about his career, he said, “if I had not become a writer, I would have been a forester. I have been a factory worker, a helper in a tree nursery, a college professor, an editor and a few other things. I don’t like people too much, as too many of them are too much like me.”
He passed away in 1983 at the age of 77, in Springfield, Massachusetts, leaving a legacy of careful scholarly work as well as hundreds of stories for children. Following is a partial bibliography of his work:
The Presence of Everett Marsh, Bobbs, 1937
“Centenary Series in American Literature”, Funk, 1947-48
Magazines in the United States, Ronald, 1949 (with D.M. Hobart)
Selling Forces, Ronald, 1952
The Beckoning Hill, Longmans, 1954
An Elephant in the Family, Nelson, 1957
Of Lasting Interest, Doubleday, 1958
The Story of Advertising, Ronald, 1958
Advertising and the Soul’s Belly: Repetition and Memory in Advertising, University of Georgia Press, 1961
The Queen’s Most Honorable Pirate, Harper, 1961
The Elephant in the Barn, Harper, 1961
A Hound, a Bay Horse, and a Turtle-Dove: A Life of Thoreau for the Young Reader, Pantheon, 1963
Trust Thyself, Pantheon, 1964
Copyright 2013 Marie Brannon
All rights reserved
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Thank you for sharing this story with me, Marie. Right now I'm reading "The Story of Advertising" by Mr. Wood and as an ad nerd, I'm really enjoying it. Which made me wonder "who is this guy James Playsted Wood? Now I know. So again, thank you!
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