St. Clair McKelway

St. Clair McKelway
Born	February 13, 1905 Charlotte
Died	January 10, 1980(aged 74) New York City
Occupation	Journalist,writer
Parent(s)	Alexander McKelway

St. Clair McKelway(February 13, 1905 – January 10, 1980) was a writer and editor forThe New Yorkermagazine beginning in 1933.

Childhood

McKelway was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, toAlexander McKelway,aPresbyterianminister, journalist, and child labor reformer, and Lavinia Rutherford Smith. In 1909 the senior McKelway took a job with theNational Child Labor Committee (NCLC)and moved the family toWashington D.C.McKelway grew up in theGeorgetown neighborhoodand attendedWestern High School(now Duke Ellington School of the Arts).

Career

He began his journalistic career at theWashington Heraldbefore moving to New York City.He worked at theNew York Worldand theNew York Herald Tribune.While working at theNew York Herald Tribune,he was described byStanley Walkeras, "One of the twelve best reporters in New York."

The New Yorker

McKelway came toThe New Yorkerat the behest ofHarold Rosswho "was looking to infuse the magazine with a jolt of gritty reportage."He served as a managing editor for journalistic contributions atThe New Yorkerfrom 1936 to 1939.While editor he hiredE. J. Kahn Jr.,Joseph Mitchell,Brendan Gill,Philip HamburgerandMargaret Case Harriman.DuringWorld War II,he held public relations posts for theArmy Air Force,leaving the service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war McKelway returned toThe New Yorkerand remained at the magazine for 47 years.According toWilliam Shawn,McKelway "was one of the handful of people who, together withHarold Ross,The New Yorker's founding editor, set the magazine on its course. "

In 1950, he collected several of his pieces forThe New Yorkerin the bookTrue Tales from the Annals of Crime & Rascality.One article from that collection was the basis for the 1950 movieMister 880,starringEdmund Gwennas a small-time counterfeiter of one dollar bills, who eluded theUnited States Secret Servicefor ten years, from 1938 to 1948.St. Clair McKelway also wrote screenplays for two other movies in 1948:Sleep, My Love,directed byDouglas Sirk,andThe Mating of Millie,starringGlenn FordandEvelyn Keyes.He published the bookThe Edinburgh Caper: A One-Man International Plot,based on aNew Yorkerarticle,in 1962.

In 2010, Bloomsbury USA published a paperback-original collection of 18 of McKelway's works,Reporting at Wit's End: Tales from the New Yorker(ISBN978-1-60819-034-8), with an appreciative introduction byAdam GopnikofThe New Yorker.

Personal life

McKelway was married five times, including to the writerMaeve Brennan.His brotherBenjamin Mosby McKelwaywas a reporter forThe Washington Star.He was also involved withEileen McKenney.

St. Clair McKelway died at the DeWitt Nursing Home in Manhattan on January 10, 1980.

He should not be confused with his great-uncle, also named St. Clair McKelway, the editor of theBrooklyn Eagle.

Bibliography

Books

• Gossip: The Life And Times Of Walter Winchell(1940)
• True Tales from the Annals of Crime and Rascality(1951)
• The Edinburgh Caper: A One-Man International Plot(1962)
• The Big Little Man from Brooklyn(1969)
• Reporting at Wit's End: Tales from The New Yorker(2010)

Articles

• McKelway, St. Clair (January 1, 1949). "Annals of Crime: The Wily Wilby - I".The New Yorker.Vol. 24, no. 45. pp. 23–33.Part 1 of a report on Ralph Marshall Wilby.
• McKelway, St. Clair (January 8, 1949). "Annals of Crime: The Wily Wilby - II".The New Yorker.Vol. 24, no. 46. pp. 34–47.Part 2 of a report on Ralph Marshall Wilby.

Essays

"An Affix for Birds," inA Subtreasury of American Humor,edited byE. B. WhiteandKatharine S. White