Modern Realists Telling Only
Half of Life Says Mrs. Peattie
"The modern realist whose work
contains all realism and no ideality
is only telling half of her life," declared
Mrs. Elia W. Peattie, dramatist and
novelist, and former Omaha
newspaperwoman, who read two of her
one act plays, "Family Reunion,"
and " Wander Weed,' ' to 500 persons
yesterday before the Omaha Woman's
Press club at the Fontenelle.
Mrs. Peattie reviewed books for
the Chicago Tribune for twenty
years, during which time she read on
an average of eight to twelve books
a week. "My reading covered a wide
variety of work and during that time
I never took a real vacation as I
took my books with me whenever I
left Chicago," Mrs. Peattie said.
Discussing A. S. M. Hutchinson's
novel, "This Freedom," Mrs. Peattie
said she believed the woman in the
story used no sense in her efforts to
rear her family and devote herself to
a business career.
"I believe a woman can devote
herself to the arts and still successfully
raise a family," she said, " but I
am not so sure about a business
career. I brought up four children
and worked on a newspaper and I am
sure my worst enemies would admit
that I was a pretty good housekeeper.
Mrs. Peattie said she liked Sinclair
Lewis' "Babbit" much better
thanhis "Main Street." "It's a book
with realism while at the same time
it has some ideally," Mrs. Peattie
said, "Babbitt had some idealism in
him."
Mrs. Peattie is very fond of Willa
Cather's work and she characterized
"One of Ours," as a tremendous
work. " The young man in the book
who has searched in vain for the
beauty in life in a commonplace environment
finally finds it in death on
a European battlefield.
"I am not a sentimentalist nor romanticist,"
Mrs. Peattie said, "but I
do not believe in overlooking the
ideality in life that we can all see
in our friends about us."
R. L. Metcalfe, advertising manager
of Brandels store, recalled today
a story written by Mrs. Peattie
when she was employed by the
World-Herald in the '90's. Mr. Metcalfe,
at that time, was associate
editor.
"Mrs. Peattie wrote a serial called
"The Judge," which won a $900 prize
from the Detroit Free Press," he
said. "It was the scariest, wierdest
story I ever read. For three months
after I read it, I couldn't go to bed
without a light in my room."
Mrs. Peattie was introduced at her
appearance yesterday by Miss Eva
Mahoney, president of the Press
blub. Miss Mahoney is woman's department
editor of the World-Herald.
Mrs. Peattie, at the time she was
with the World-Herald, was the entire
department.
