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August 2008 / page 6 So We May All Be Heard |
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By Marlene Cook, historian |
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It took only one IWPA meeting for Fannie Amanda Butcher to start living her dream.
She had a love affair with words and had written a couple of features for the Morrison’s Weekly and Chicago magazines. Although she didn’t get paid for those jobs, she did get a byline. She had also written a few book reviews for The Chicago Evening Post.
At that first meeting in 1912, Mary Eleanor O’Donnell, women’s editor for the Chicago Tribune, presided. After the program, O’Donnell questioned Butcher about her work and Butcher was sure her qualifications for membership were being challenged. Instead, O’Donnell offered her a job as a columnist to write “How to Earn Money at Home.” That wasn’t quite her dream job, but it did open doors that began a 50-year career at the Tribune.
Butcher was born February 13, 1888, the only child of L. Oliver and Hattie Butcher. Her dad, a colorist of photographic portraits, moved the family from Fredonia, Kan. to Chicago in the early 1890s to attend classes at the Art Institute. When an accident left him disabled, the family’s quality of life spiraled downward and Fannie became the bridge between two unhappy parents.
Butcher had an obsession for books which began at age six when she was given a deluxe copy of Black Beauty, bound in red silk. She read a book a day for most of her life. Reading aloud daily to a blind woman who wanted to hear history, biography and philosophy enhanced Butcher’s love even further for the written word.
She graduated from McKinley High School in 1906. Through academic jobs, she earned enough money to attend Lewis Institute (now IIT). In 1908, she received an A.A. Degree With help from a wealthy benefactor Butcher graduated from the University of Chicago with an A.B. Degree in 1910.
Upon graduation, she went to Rolling Prairie, Ind. to serve as a high school principal. After only for five months she returned to Chicago to become secretary and publicity writer for the Little Theater.
Butcher wrote for magazines and convinced the editor of the Post to allow her to write book reviews, forming lifelong friendships with many prominent writers.
After accepting the job at the Tribune, Butcher wrote everything from music to fashion and theater to society and politics, including crime reporting. She accepted every assignment tossed her way whether it interested her or not, but all she really wanted to do was write about books. It wasn’t until 1922 that she was finally named literary editor. She introduced the Saturday literary tabloid that included features, profiles, reviews, travel guides, cookbooks and children’s classics.
In 1920, she opened a book store in the Pullman Building on Adams Street. The first such store in America to be owned by a literary critic, it became a literary salon (maybe similar to Borders today), but the workload became too much. In 1927, she sold the store to Doubleday Page Book shops. By1934 she was interviewing authors on her own radio show and in the course of time, Fannie Butcher became one of the most influential literary critics in the United States.
In 1935, after supporting her parents for many years, she married Richard Bokum and became the principal breadwinner of the new partnership.
As if that weren’t enough, Butcher was passed over as editor for a new Sunday book section, for which she had pushed for years. She was relegated to writing for the society pages, where she wrote for 15 years under the name Thalia. She was 53 years old and the new managers, young men, wanted to place peers in the position. Although this sent her into crushing despair, Butcher pushed on, writing book reviews for the new section as well as a weekly column, “The Literary Spotlight.”
Chicagoans considered her the “Dean of Literary Critics” and in 1953 she was the first woman to be honored by the Friends of the Chicago Public Library, serving as its president for 10 years. She was elected Patron Saint of the Society of Midland Authors and in 1964, was named Communicator of the Year by the University of Chicago. She was showered with awards from many organizations. At age 92 Butcher was inducted into the first Hall of Fame at IIT and a year later, into the Chicago Press Club’s Hall of Fame.
Fulfilling her lifelong dream of writing, she wrote her autobiography, Many Lives, One Love, published in 1972.
Butcher died in 1987 at the age of 99. Her collection of correspondence, clippings, manuscripts, photographs and memorabilia are preserved at the Newberry Library. |
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