230:, who famously told him, "You're never going to be any good as a poet. Why don't you take up something useful?" Pound suggested publishing. Later, Laughlin took a leave of absence from Harvard and stayed with Pound in Rapallo for several months. When Laughlin returned to Harvard, he used money from his father to found New Directions, which he ran first from his dorm room and later from a barn on his Aunt Leila Laughlin Carlisle's estate in
178:, and this wealth would partially fund Laughlin's future endeavors in publishing. As Laughlin once wrote, "none of this would have been possible without the industry of my ancestors, the canny Irishmen who immigrated in 1824 from County Down to Pittsburgh, where they built up what became the fourth largest steel company in the country. I bless them with every breath." Laughlin's boyhood home is now part of the campus of
385:, in 1945, and continued to write verse until his death. Although he never enjoyed the acclaim that the writers he published received, Laughlin's verse (which is plainspoken and focused on everyday experience, reminiscent of Williams or even the Roman poet Catullus) was well-respected by other poets, and in the 1990s
234:. (The firm opened offices in New York soon after, first at 333 Sixth Avenue and later at 80 Eighth Avenue, where it remains today.) With funds from his graduation gift, Laughlin endowed New Directions with more money, ensuring that the company could stay afloat even though it did not turn a profit until 1946.
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Although of draft age, Laughlin avoided service in World War II due to a 4-F classification. Laughlin, like several of his male ancestors and like his son Robert, suffered from depression. Robert committed suicide in 1986 by stabbing himself multiple times in the bathtub. Laughlin later wrote a poem
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in 1937, Laughlin left for an extended ski trip. When reviewers sought additional copies of the novel, Laughlin was not available to give the book the push it could have used, and as a result
Williams nursed a grudge against the young publisher for years. Laughlin's outdoor activities helped other
42:
307:, in which he expresses his shock at the amount of blood in the human body. Despite the horrific mess left as a result, Laughlin reasons that he cannot ask anyone else to clean it up, "because after all, it was my blood too."
426:
Laughlin married three times. He was first married to
Margaret Keyser for a decade; the couple had two children. In 1955, Laughlin married Anne Clark Resor, and with her also had two children. Laughlin met
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Within just a few years New
Directions had become an important publisher of modernist literature. Initially, it emphasized contemporary American writers with whom Laughlin had personal connections, such as
285:. A born cosmopolitan, though, Laughlin also sought out cutting-edge European and Latin American authors and introduced their work to the American market. One important example of this was
226:. Laughlin accompanied the two on a motoring tour of southern France and wrote press releases for Stein's upcoming visit to the U.S. He proceeded to Italy to meet and study with
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and was part-owner of the resort there for many years. Laughlin also spearheaded the surveying of the Albion-Sugarloaf ski area, along with Alta notables Chic Morton,
366:, in Europe. Sixteen issues of the journal eventually appeared. Although Laughlin wished to continue the journal, the Ford Foundation cut off funding, asserting that
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in 1945 at a
Halloween dance party. Huston worked as a book designer and art director for New Directions. The pair married on December 5, 1990.
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In the early 1950s, Laughlin took part in what has come to be known as the
Cultural Cold War against the Soviet Union. With funding from the
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A natural athlete and an avid skier, Laughlin traveled the world skiing and hiking. With money from his graduation gift, he founded the
198:, Laughlin showed an early interest in literature. An important influence on Laughlin at the time was the Choate teacher and translator
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210:, who directed the writing program. According to Laughlin, Hillyer would leave the room when either Pound or Eliot was mentioned.
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One of
Laughlin's most anthologized works is "Step on His Head", a poem about his relationship with his children.
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206:, where Laughlin matriculated in 1933, had a more conservative literary bent, embodied in the poet and professor
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literature. The volume also included a poem by "Tasilo
Ribischka," a pseudonym for Laughlin himself.
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822:"The Man Who Made American Modernism and Modernism American: James Laughlin, champion of literature"
154:(October 30, 1914 – November 12, 1997) was an American poet and literary book publisher who founded
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Pound's advice to
Laughlin to give up poetry didn't stick. He published his first book of poetry,
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mountains of
California. In the 1960s, Laughlin published Rexroth's friend, the poet and essayist
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Laughlin died of complications related to a stroke in
Norfolk, Connecticut, at age 83.
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849:. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
585:"Literchoor is my beat" : a life of James Laughlin, publisher of New Directions
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subsidized the publication of many other money-losing books of greater importance.
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had limited impact and that its money would be better spent on the more effective
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756:"Literchoor Is My Beat": A Life of James Laughlin, Publisher of New Directions
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326:. At times Laughlin's skiing got in the way of his business. After publishing
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418:' James Laughlin award, for a poet's second book, is named in his honor.
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This article is about the publisher and poet. For the economist, see
567:, and others has been published in a series of volumes issued by
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became an annual publication, issuing its final number in 1991.
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Against the Grain: Interviews with Maverick American Publishers
174:, founded three generations earlier by his great grandfather,
241:, an anthology of poetry and writings by authors such as
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James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets
641:"James Laughlin, Publisher With Bold Taste, Dies at 83"
587:, New York, NY : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014,
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published six of his poems. Among his other books are
809:"James Laughlin, The Art of Publishing No. 1, Part 2"
796:"James Laughlin, The Art of Publishing No. 1, Part 1"
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The first publication of the new press, in 1936, was
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Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award
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literary friendships, though; for many years he and
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The Way It Wasn't: From the Files of James Laughlin
218:In 1934, Laughlin traveled to France, where he met
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341:took an annual camping trip together in the
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609:. University of Iowa Press. pp. 1–41.
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356:and with the assistance of poet and editor
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820:Barnhisel, Greg (January–February 2016).
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710:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
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598:Dana, Robert (2009). "Jame Laughlin".
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908:20th-century American businesspeople
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239:New Directions in Prose & Poetry
728:Barnhisel, Greg (4 January 2015).
271:New Directions in Prose and Poetry
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730:"James Laughlin's New Directions"
533:A Commonplace Book of Pentastichs
503:Collected Poems of James Laughlin
913:People from Norfolk, Connecticut
878:American people of Irish descent
784:Laughlin reads some of his works
638:Gussow, Mel (14 November 1997).
551:Laughlin's correspondence with
172:Jones and Laughlin Steel Company
807:Richard Ziegfield (Fall 1983).
794:Richard Ziegfield (Fall 1983).
753:MacNiven, Ian S. (2014-11-18).
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194:(now Choate Rosemary Hall) in
25:James Laughlin (industrialist)
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372:Congress for Cultural Freedom
669:"In Memoriam-James Laughlin"
349:, also an avid outdoorsman.
903:20th-century American poets
888:Choate Rosemary Hall alumni
734:Los Angeles Review of Books
499:(Copper Canyon Press, 1989)
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838:I quadri di James Laughlin
442:Laughlin's works include:
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619:– via Project Muse.
416:Academy of American Poets
156:New Directions Publishing
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16:American poet (1914–1997)
497:The Bird of Endless Time
196:Wallingford, Connecticut
893:Harvard Advocate alumni
883:Writers from Pittsburgh
553:William Carlos Williams
328:William Carlos Williams
279:William Carlos Williams
243:William Carlos Williams
21:James Laurence Laughlin
406:Laughlin won the 1992
847:James Laughlin Papers
412:National Book Awards
232:Norfolk, Connecticut
86:Norfolk, Connecticut
815:. Winter 1983 (90).
515:The Man in the Wall
481:Copper Canyon Press
383:Some Natural Things
363:Perspectives U.S.A.
324:Ruth Rogers-Altmann
305:Experience of Blood
303:about this, called
647:The New York Times
477:The Owl of Minerva
465:The House of Light
453:In Another Country
393:In Another Country
204:Harvard University
180:Chatham University
141:Robert Frost Medal
98:Harvard University
802:. Fall 1983 (89).
766:978-0-374-29939-2
593:978-0-374-29939-2
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192:The Choate School
176:James H. Laughlin
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539:Byways: A Memoir
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339:Kenneth Rexroth
259:Wallace Stevens
224:Alice B. Toklas
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129: 1990)
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263:E. E. Cummings
255:Marianne Moore
245:, Ezra Pound,
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80:(1997-11-12)
67:Pennsylvania
868:1997 deaths
863:1914 births
347:Gary Snyder
857:Categories
826:Humanities
739:2020-10-03
697:2006-08-21
625:References
565:Ezra Pound
333:White Mule
297:Siddhartha
292:Siddhartha
228:Ezra Pound
168:Pittsburgh
162:Early life
63:Pittsburgh
55:1914-10-30
487:Collemata
447:The river
410:from the
320:Alf Engen
289:'s novel
267:modernist
186:Education
706:cite web
509:Angelica
471:Tabellae
330:' novel
483:, 1987)
131:
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653:30 May
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569:Norton
547:(2006)
541:(2005)
535:(1998)
529:(1997)
523:(1995)
517:(1993)
511:(1992)
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493:(1988)
473:(1986)
467:(1986)
461:(1986)
455:(1979)
449:(1938)
401:Byways
261:, and
214:Career
144:(1990)
137:Awards
112:Spouse
88:, U.S.
69:, U.S.
607:(PDF)
438:Works
283:Pound
125:(
121:
761:ISBN
712:link
655:2020
611:ISBN
589:ISBN
489:and
316:Utah
281:and
222:and
75:Died
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