Letters of George Ade

George Ade, one of the most beloved writers of his day, carried on a lively correspondence with the most colorful of the great and near-great. George M. Cohan, William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, John T. McCutcheon, James Whitcomb Riley, Finley Peter Dunne, Hamlin Garland all received letters from the Hoosier humorist. Ade’s keen observation, compact and straightforward style, and understated humor mark his correspondence, as well as his immensely popular newspaper columns, books, and plays. His friendships were so diversified that his letters forms a patchwork of popular history, literature, politics, and entertainment. Ade’s interchange of ideas about people and events shaping the twentieth century as well as his own life will provide insights for students of varied aspects of American culture. This volume presents 182 of the most interesting and informative letters from the thousands of extant pieces of his correspondence in scores of collections scattered throughout the United States. The letters are arranged chronologically, annotated with explanatory material and with sources. A forward, introduction, and Ade’s autobiography are included, interspersed with photographs, sketches, handwriting samples and other illustrations which evoke the man and his times.

Terence Tobin, associate professor of English at City College, Chicago, has talked about George Ade and has sung his songs throughout the Midwest. Dr. Tobin is also a scholar of early Scottish drama, and is completing his third book in that field.

Paul Fatout retired in 1965 as a professor emeritus of English at Purdue University, where he taught for thirty-eight years. Best known as an expert in Mark Twain, he has published seven books and numerous articles in the fields of American literature and American history, his twin interests.