You’ve posted this before, but I’m looking at it through new eyes now.
Remarkable piece. Very smartly done- the direction, the dialog- wow! It snap, crackle, and pops.
Good stuff. Good stuff, indeed.
No other entertainment gave him greater pleasure than reporting from the conventions; nor did anyone appreciate his efforts more than Mencken himself. One reporter, peering through Mencken’s window late at night after one rally, recalled watching him at work alone in his hotel room, pounding out copy on a typewriter propped on a desk. He would type a few sentences, read them, slap his thigh, toss his head back, and roar with laughter. Then he would type some more lines, guffaw, and so on until the end of the article.
A prohibitionist is the sort of man one couldn’t care to drink with, even if he drank.
I used to go to Mencken’s old speakeasy, the Peabody Bookshop and Bier Stube on Charles Street in Baltimore. Book store at street level, with the bar in the basement. I was underage at the time, so it was completely appropriate.
Of the great names of American letters, Mencken’s is second only to Mark Twain in my estimation. It has become fashionable lately to denounce him as a racist or a misogynist, thus to discredit him. (How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb? THAT’S NOT FUNNY!!) Surely he was of a piece with his times, as are we all, but Mencken understood and denounced the crystal nacht in 1938, long before most American journalists would acknowledge Hitler’s persecution of the Jews. And, of course, the man is the literal seed of the Harlem Renaissance in literature. I’m not his apologist, nor does he need one. Mencken is Adam, a man without precedents.
As always, thanks for the education. I still clearly remember the summer I read Tom Sawyer- changed my life and I don’t think that’s over stating things. I like Huckleberry Finn even more. I digress.
I confess I’ve not read any Mencken, but you pointed me here and I see I’m at home:
Mencken’s Creed
I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind – that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty…
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech…
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I – But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.
Ah yes, H.L. Mencken, the Sage of Baltimore. My all-time favorite writer. If I had to attack your assertion, Greg, I would say that Mencken is America’s greatest writer of non-fiction and Twain of fiction. Choosing one over the other is too difficult, at least for me.
Now that I’ve read the post, I think I’ll sit for awhile and thumb through that collection of Mencken books in my library. Visiting with them is like visiting with an old friend. And perhaps I will even indulge myself with a cigar.
I have never agreed with Menken all of the time, but I have loved him just the same. A lot like hanging out around BHB.
I think your distinction is a good one. It also took Twain much longer to hit his racing stride, where Mencken is at is best right out of the gate.
For the record, the film is Inherit the Wind, based on the play of the same name. Spencer Tracy and Frederick March give Gene Kelly’s Mencken-based E.K. Hornbeck a run for his money. A truly great American film.
Teri Lussier says:
You’ve posted this before, but I’m looking at it through new eyes now.
Remarkable piece. Very smartly done- the direction, the dialog- wow! It snap, crackle, and pops.
Good stuff. Good stuff, indeed.
February 25, 2008 — 7:10 am
Greg Swann says:
> You’ve posted this before
I knew I had, but I couldn’t find it.
> Remarkable piece. Very smartly done- the direction, the dialog- wow! It snap, crackle, and pops.
Gene Kelly’s eyes! Incredible acting.
Cathy and I watch this clip all the time. Too fine in every possible respect.
H.L. Mencken back story
H.L. Mencken quotes
I used to go to Mencken’s old speakeasy, the Peabody Bookshop and Bier Stube on Charles Street in Baltimore. Book store at street level, with the bar in the basement. I was underage at the time, so it was completely appropriate.
Take some H.L. Mencken home
Of the great names of American letters, Mencken’s is second only to Mark Twain in my estimation. It has become fashionable lately to denounce him as a racist or a misogynist, thus to discredit him. (How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb? THAT’S NOT FUNNY!!) Surely he was of a piece with his times, as are we all, but Mencken understood and denounced the crystal nacht in 1938, long before most American journalists would acknowledge Hitler’s persecution of the Jews. And, of course, the man is the literal seed of the Harlem Renaissance in literature. I’m not his apologist, nor does he need one. Mencken is Adam, a man without precedents.
February 25, 2008 — 9:10 am
Teri Lussier says:
As always, thanks for the education. I still clearly remember the summer I read Tom Sawyer- changed my life and I don’t think that’s over stating things. I like Huckleberry Finn even more. I digress.
I confess I’ve not read any Mencken, but you pointed me here and I see I’m at home:
Mencken’s Creed
I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind – that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty…
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech…
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I – But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.
Makes me want to shout again, but no need. 😀
February 25, 2008 — 9:32 am
Greg Swann says:
Freeing Jefferson’s slaves. No comparison implied. That story is fan mail, nothing more.
February 25, 2008 — 9:43 am
Daniel Rothamel says:
Ah yes, H.L. Mencken, the Sage of Baltimore. My all-time favorite writer. If I had to attack your assertion, Greg, I would say that Mencken is America’s greatest writer of non-fiction and Twain of fiction. Choosing one over the other is too difficult, at least for me.
Now that I’ve read the post, I think I’ll sit for awhile and thumb through that collection of Mencken books in my library. Visiting with them is like visiting with an old friend. And perhaps I will even indulge myself with a cigar.
I have never agreed with Menken all of the time, but I have loved him just the same. A lot like hanging out around BHB.
Fitting.
February 25, 2008 — 2:51 pm
Greg Swann says:
Bless you, sir. Thank you.
I think your distinction is a good one. It also took Twain much longer to hit his racing stride, where Mencken is at is best right out of the gate.
For the record, the film is Inherit the Wind, based on the play of the same name. Spencer Tracy and Frederick March give Gene Kelly’s Mencken-based E.K. Hornbeck a run for his money. A truly great American film.
February 25, 2008 — 3:08 pm