T. S. Matthews
Thomas Stanley Matthews | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 16, 1901 Cincinnati,Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1991(aged 89) Cavendish, Suffolk,England |
| Education | Princeton University(B.A.,1922) New College, Oxford(B.A., 1925) |
| Occupation(s) | Editor, journalist, author |
| Years active | 1926–1985 |
| Employer | Time |
| Known for | Editor atTimemagazine |
| Predecessor | Henry Luce |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Paul Clement Matthews Elsie Procter |
| Relatives | Stanley Matthews (paternal grandfather) |
Thomas Stanley Matthews(January 16, 1901 – January 4, 1991) was an American magazine editor, journalist, and writer. He served as editor ofTimemagazine from 1949 to 1953.[1]
Background
[edit]Thomas Stanley Matthews was born on January 16, 1901, inCincinnati, Ohio.His father was New Jersey bishop,Paul Clement Matthews;and his mother was Elsie Procter, theProcter & Gambleheiress.[1][2]His grandfather wasStanley Matthews.He had five sisters,[3]including Margaret (later Flinsch) and Dorothea (later Dooling).
He earned a first bachelor's degree fromPrinceton Universityin 1922 and a second fromNew CollegeatOxford Universityin 1925.[1][2][4]
Career
[edit]He joined the staff ofThe New Republicin 1925. There, literary criticEdmund Wilsonencouraged him to write for the magazine. By 1928, he became an assistant editor and by 1929 an associate editor.[2]
He joinedTimein 1929 as book editor and moved up to assistant managing editor, executive editor, and managing editor. (In 1940,William Saroyancites him as one of two managing editors atTimewithManfred Gottfried.[5]) Finally, he succeededTimeco-founderHenry Luceas the magazine's editor, serving in that position from 1949 to 1953.[1][2]
Matthews' relationship withTimesoured over the 1952 presidential election. Luce favoredRepublicannomineeDwight D. Eisenhowerbut Matthews preferred his Democratic rival (and his Princeton classmate)Adlai Stevenson II.At Luce's instigation, Matthews moved to England to study a British version ofTime.When the project did not carry through, he remained in Britain. There, he wrote numerous books and poetry, including an autobiography and a book onT. S. Eliot.[1]He also reviewed books for theNew York Times.[2]
Impact
[edit]TheNew York Timescredited Matthews with "bringing depth and refinement to the news weekly in a 25-year career." It described him as a "lean, athletic editor" with "clipped, quiet speech was filled with obscure literary references" who rid the magazine of its double-barreled adjectives, puns and backward sentences. "[2][4]Whittaker Chambers,who started after and ended before Matthews atTime,summarized as follows: "T. S. Matthews' contribution to the humanity ofTime,both in the intellectual and personal sense of the word, cannot be overstated. "[6]
However,W.A. Swanberg,author of thePulitzer Prize-winning biographyLuce and His Empire,criticized Matthews for emphasizing the readability ofTimeat the expense of objectivity. “For him to be managing editor of America's most politically oriented and propagandist 'newsmagazine' was as ifF. Scott FitzgeraldwereSecretary of State,"Swanberg wrote.[7]Swanberg also characterized Matthews as being “as close to being politically obtuse as such an otherwise cultivated man could be.”[7]
Princeton University holds his papers, which include writings, notebooks, correspondence, files fromTime(1940s, 1950s, including theTime-in-Britainproject), subject files, legal and financial correspondence, photographs, and printed material from 1910 to 1991. These include datebooks 1950–1991. Correspondents includeJohn W. Aldridge,Whittaker Chambers,T. S. Eliot,Valerie Eliot,Robert Graves,Eleanor Green,Laura (Riding) Jackson,Schuyler Jackson,Len Lye,Laurie Lee,William Piel Jr.,V. S. Pritchett,Lyman Spitzer,andAdlai Stevenson.[1]
Private life and death
[edit]Matthews was married three times, to: Juliana Stevens Cuyler,Martha Gellhorn,and Pamela Firth Peniakoff.[1][4]He married Gellhorn in 1954 and lived with her in London; they divorced in 1963.[8]He had four sons: Thomas S. Matthews Jr., John P. C. Matthews, Paul C. Matthews, andW. Alexander P. Matthews.[2][4]
He died of lung cancer inCavendish,England.[2]
Works
[edit]The Library of Congress holds the following books by Matthews:
- To the Gallows I must go(1931)
- Sugar Pill: An Essay on Newspapers(1957, 1959)
- Name and Address: An Autobiography(1960, 1961)
- O My America! Notes on a Trip(1962)
- Great Tom: Notes Towards the Definition of T. S. Eliot(1974)
- Jacks or Better: A Narrative(1977)
- Under the Influence: Recollections of Robert Graves, Laura Riding, and Friends(1979, 1983)
- Angels Unawares: Twentieth-Century Portraits (1985)
Articles appearing online include:
- "Football Morals" (November 26, 1976)[9]
Poems appearing online include:
- "After Such Knowledge: T.S. Eliot" (undated)[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcdefg "T. S. Matthews Papers 1910-1991".Princeton University.Retrieved15 September2013.
- ^abcdefgh Foderaro, Lisa W. (6 January 1991)."T. S. Matthews, 89, Ex-Editor of Time and Author".New York Times.Retrieved15 September2013.
- ^(page 3, Name & Address)
- ^abcd "T. S. Matthews, Ex-Time Editor".Chicago Tribune (via New York Times News Service).10 January 1991.Retrieved15 September2013.
- ^ Saroyan, William(1940).Love's Old Sweet Song: A Play in Three Acts.Samuel French. p. 72.Retrieved15 July2017.
- ^ Chambers, Whittaker (1952).Witness.New York: Random House. p. 478.
- ^abSwanberg, W. A. (1972-09-01).Luce and his empire.Scribner.ISBN9780684125923.
- ^ "I didn't like sex at all".Salon.12 August 2006.Retrieved23 February2012.
- ^ Matthews, T. S. (26 November 1976)."Football Morals".Commentary Magazine.Retrieved23 February2012.
- ^ Matthews, T. S."After Such Knowledge: T.S. Eliot".CliveJames.com.Retrieved23 February2012.
External links
[edit]- Princeton:T. S. Matthew Papers
- Princeton Weekly Bulletin:image of Matthews
- Getty Images:photo Matthews among TIME staff ca. 1948
- Wheatmark Press:painting of Matthews
- Chambers, Whittaker (1952).Witness.New York: Random House.
