Once again, my cousin Samantha has a story she wants to tell. I am reproducing her letter from 1906.
My dearest cousin Susanna,
Do you recall, some time ago when I sent you my essay on Ida Tarbell? While I was reading Uncle Gard's copies of McClure's magazine, I discovered some engaging new fiction stories. I learned the fiction editor, Viola Roseboro' is none other than the eccentric lady in the park with the suitcase of paper. Do you remember we were forbidden to speak with her? Well, I had Agnes and Agatha cause a diversion walking Jip in Madison Square Park so I could have occasion to interview Miss Roseboro' about her life.
Viole (Vee-oh-la) Roseboro' (accent intentional) was born in 1858 in Pulaski, Tennessee. Her family moved away just before the Civil War because they had abolitionist leanings. They moved around a lot and Viola was a sickly child.
She returned to Tennessee to attend Fairmount College. After college, Viola did not marry. She went on a "reading tour" of the south reciting poems and monologues from Southern literature and in Scotch dialect. Viola dreamed of being on the REAL stage in New York but first she traveled with a stock company. In 1882 she moved to New York and acted in two plays, Two Orphans and The Lights O’ London.
She also worked as a journalist and began publishing short stories in magazines. She published a book of her own stories, Old Ways and New (1892).
Poor health forced Viola to give up the stage in 1887 and turned to literature to make a living. Viola wrote for the The Century, The Cosmopolitan and The Daily Graphic. During this time, Viola started writing her first novel. She became friendly with artists and was hired as a reader at a literary syndicate run by Samuel McClure. He soon hired Viola as his fiction editor when he launched his own magazine in '93.
"Rosie," as she is known at the magazine, is good friends with Ida Tarbell. Rosie has discovered some of the best up-and-coming authors of our day. Rosie corresponds regularly with a writer she assures me will be quite famous some day, O. Henry. Back in '99, she published his first story, Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking.
He has now written two books of short stories. I think I read The Gift of the Magi last year, or at least GrandMary gave it to me to read as an "improving work of literature."
Rosie tells me about a new lady writer she is working with, Willa Cather. Miss Cather has published a book of verse, for McClure's, two stories called Paul's Case and The Sculptor's Funeral included in a a collection of short stories called The Troll Garden.
McMcClure just hired Miss Cather to work at the magazine. Rosie assures me the new novel Miss Cather's is working on is terrible but if Miss Cather has the courage to throw it out and try again writing from a different point-of-view, it will be "one of the books of the world". (Susanna's note: My Ántonia. My guardian says I should read it when I'm older. My friend Kirsten's stories were partly inspired by Willa Cather's novels).
To date, Rosie published two more books of her own stories, The Joyous Heart in '03 and Players and Vagabonds in '04.
Rosie is a true eccentric. She does not wear a corset and loves slouchy clothes, smokes cigarettes and hates working in the office. She often brings a suitcase of manuscripts to Madison Square Park and sits on a park bench to read.
She eats mostly raw food and carries around a bottle of water.
Rosie can be very blunt and rude sometimes but I rather enjoyed my conversation with her.
Thank you cousin Susanna for reading my long letter. I hope to see you soon, perhaps Easter?
Your cousin,
Samantha
My dearest cousin Susanna,
Do you recall, some time ago when I sent you my essay on Ida Tarbell? While I was reading Uncle Gard's copies of McClure's magazine, I discovered some engaging new fiction stories. I learned the fiction editor, Viola Roseboro' is none other than the eccentric lady in the park with the suitcase of paper. Do you remember we were forbidden to speak with her? Well, I had Agnes and Agatha cause a diversion walking Jip in Madison Square Park so I could have occasion to interview Miss Roseboro' about her life.
Viole (Vee-oh-la) Roseboro' (accent intentional) was born in 1858 in Pulaski, Tennessee. Her family moved away just before the Civil War because they had abolitionist leanings. They moved around a lot and Viola was a sickly child.
She returned to Tennessee to attend Fairmount College. After college, Viola did not marry. She went on a "reading tour" of the south reciting poems and monologues from Southern literature and in Scotch dialect. Viola dreamed of being on the REAL stage in New York but first she traveled with a stock company. In 1882 she moved to New York and acted in two plays, Two Orphans and The Lights O’ London.
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| Viola Roseboro in Two Orphans, a story of the French Revolution Look at the published play... I didn't read it. I'm not sure I'm supposed to know about the French Revolution |
She also worked as a journalist and began publishing short stories in magazines. She published a book of her own stories, Old Ways and New (1892).
Poor health forced Viola to give up the stage in 1887 and turned to literature to make a living. Viola wrote for the The Century, The Cosmopolitan and The Daily Graphic. During this time, Viola started writing her first novel. She became friendly with artists and was hired as a reader at a literary syndicate run by Samuel McClure. He soon hired Viola as his fiction editor when he launched his own magazine in '93.
"Rosie," as she is known at the magazine, is good friends with Ida Tarbell. Rosie has discovered some of the best up-and-coming authors of our day. Rosie corresponds regularly with a writer she assures me will be quite famous some day, O. Henry. Back in '99, she published his first story, Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking.
He has now written two books of short stories. I think I read The Gift of the Magi last year, or at least GrandMary gave it to me to read as an "improving work of literature."
Rosie tells me about a new lady writer she is working with, Willa Cather. Miss Cather has published a book of verse, for McClure's, two stories called Paul's Case and The Sculptor's Funeral included in a a collection of short stories called The Troll Garden.
McMcClure just hired Miss Cather to work at the magazine. Rosie assures me the new novel Miss Cather's is working on is terrible but if Miss Cather has the courage to throw it out and try again writing from a different point-of-view, it will be "one of the books of the world". (Susanna's note: My Ántonia. My guardian says I should read it when I'm older. My friend Kirsten's stories were partly inspired by Willa Cather's novels).
To date, Rosie published two more books of her own stories, The Joyous Heart in '03 and Players and Vagabonds in '04.
Rosie is a true eccentric. She does not wear a corset and loves slouchy clothes, smokes cigarettes and hates working in the office. She often brings a suitcase of manuscripts to Madison Square Park and sits on a park bench to read.
She eats mostly raw food and carries around a bottle of water.
Rosie can be very blunt and rude sometimes but I rather enjoyed my conversation with her.
Thank you cousin Susanna for reading my long letter. I hope to see you soon, perhaps Easter?
Your cousin,
Samantha
