Carol Weld
Encyclopedia
Carol Weld was a journalist who collaborated with Frank Buck
on one book, Animals are Like That.
and stepdaughter of H. P. Lovecraft
. She broke with her mother when Sonia wouldn't let her marry her half-uncle, left Sonia's apartment when she could, and was married to a newspaperman, John Weld
, from 1927-1932. John Weld
was a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune
in Paris and the New York American and New York World
in New York City, wrote screenplays for Columbia and Universal, as well as fiction and non-fiction books.
before going to Paris in the early 1930s. In a 1928 article for the New York Times, she lamented that the automobile had mostly replaced the blacksmith, whose work consisted “chiefly of designing and reproducing wrought iron door hinges, candelabra of the twelfth century, lamps and smoking accessories and other objects which once upon a time were utilitarian. An ironworker finds it comparatively simple to be artistic after the early American manner by studying the art magazines.”
"It was midsummer in 1934 when I covered the departure of the Prince and Mrs. Simpson for Biarritz. At the Gare d'Orsay
the deluxe afternoon train had departed with a tin-whistle toot but no sign of royalty or a Baltimore woman. Ric, my fox terrier, who was a much better disguise to press-shy celebrities than a pair of false whiskers and who was responsible for two beats I had scored, pulled at his leash, scampering toward the deuxième classe train.
Royalty traveling second? I had my doubts, but I lifted Ric to the platform. He tugged, pulled me into the corridor of the deuxième wagon-lit. Ahead of me the Prince of Wales came from one door and disappeared through the next, carrying a piece of luggage. Man Bites Dog, I thought. On the train must be valets, his aide-decamp, then Major [General John] Aird [the Prince's Equerry
], and Scotland Yard detectives. Yet I saw the Prince moving baggage. In such democratic tendencies lay nourishment for a much bigger dog. This, as I realized long after, had been Prince Bites Puppy. The bigger the man, the bigger the dog. Before I could turn Ric about, the future King and Duke of Windsor again emerged and we collided in the narrow passageway."
Weld was a founding member of the Overseas Press Club
. When the Paris paper, the Tribune, died in 1934, a victim of the Depression, Weld, under the headline "Girl Reporter Tells It All on Last Day," affectionately recalled some of her colleagues' "conversational identifications." Ralph Jules Frantz: "Did you get the story? Swell!" Louis Atlas: "I'm fed up. Where you going to eat?" May Birkhead: "Be that as it may ..." B. J. Kospoth: "What's that? I've been at the Embassy all afternoon. But there's no story there." Edmond Taylor: "Call me up if anything breaks." Wilfred Barber: "That was July 2, 1887 at 3:10 in the morning, and it was raining, because ..." Robert Sage: "There's not enough air in here, let's open a window." Alex Small: "My dear fellow! Didn't you know? Why of course, Louis XIV, when he built the palace at Versailles, said . . ." Robert L. Stern: "You can't write that! You gotta have a new lead." Mary Fentress: "American Hospital? Anybody dead?"
: Animals are Like That (1939).
If you should find yourself with a monkey or ape on your hands and no knowledge of what to do with it, Buck tells Weld, just treat it like a child. And the elephant, like a man in the tropics, needs a sheltered siesta in mid-afternoon because he is susceptible to sunstroke.
Monkeys pick up human ways and copy them. But you should never, never trust a tiger, any more than you should trust a crocodile.
Weld did public relations for Buck, in particular for his 1939 World's Fair Jungleland
exhibit, and also handled his west coast publicity.
Weld retired to Florida (1512 Glencoe Road, Winter Park) and worked as a free lance writer. She died in Miami after a long illness.
Frank Buck (animal collector)
Frank Howard Buck was a hunter and "collector of wild animals," as well as a movie actor, director, writer and producer...
on one book, Animals are Like That.
Early life
Carol Weld (née Florence Carol Greene) was the daughter of Sonia GreeneSonia Greene
Sonia Haft Greene Lovecraft Davis was a one-time pulp fiction writer and amateur publisher, a single mother, business woman and successful milliner who bankrolled several fanzines in the early twentieth century...
and stepdaughter of H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
. She broke with her mother when Sonia wouldn't let her marry her half-uncle, left Sonia's apartment when she could, and was married to a newspaperman, John Weld
John Weld
John Weld was a newspaper reporter and writer....
, from 1927-1932. John Weld
John Weld
John Weld was a newspaper reporter and writer....
was a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
in Paris and the New York American and New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
in New York City, wrote screenplays for Columbia and Universal, as well as fiction and non-fiction books.
Journalism
Carol Weld worked on the local staffs of the New York American and the New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
before going to Paris in the early 1930s. In a 1928 article for the New York Times, she lamented that the automobile had mostly replaced the blacksmith, whose work consisted “chiefly of designing and reproducing wrought iron door hinges, candelabra of the twelfth century, lamps and smoking accessories and other objects which once upon a time were utilitarian. An ironworker finds it comparatively simple to be artistic after the early American manner by studying the art magazines.”
Foreign correspondent
When Weld arrived in Paris in the late nineteen twenties, foreign journalism did not pay well. She subsisted on a meager salary and on the sale of some of her drawings of American life to Arthur Moss, publisher of an art magazine, Gargoyle. Weld worked for The Universal Service, International News Service and United Press. One of her most memorable articles was "King Bites Dog," in which she advanced the theory that the abdication of Edward VIII was due to conservative objections to his "political color" rather than to his romance with Mrs. Wallis Simpson. The best part is her account of meeting the Prince of Wales, as he then was, in a second-class carriage carrying some of his own baggage."It was midsummer in 1934 when I covered the departure of the Prince and Mrs. Simpson for Biarritz. At the Gare d'Orsay
Gare d'Orsay
Gare d'Orsay is a former Paris railway station and hotel, built in 1900 to designs by Victor Laloux, Lucien Magne and Émile Bénard; it served as a terminus for the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans . It was the first electrified urban rail terminal in the world, opened 28 May 1900, in time for the...
the deluxe afternoon train had departed with a tin-whistle toot but no sign of royalty or a Baltimore woman. Ric, my fox terrier, who was a much better disguise to press-shy celebrities than a pair of false whiskers and who was responsible for two beats I had scored, pulled at his leash, scampering toward the deuxième classe train.
Royalty traveling second? I had my doubts, but I lifted Ric to the platform. He tugged, pulled me into the corridor of the deuxième wagon-lit. Ahead of me the Prince of Wales came from one door and disappeared through the next, carrying a piece of luggage. Man Bites Dog, I thought. On the train must be valets, his aide-decamp, then Major [General John] Aird [the Prince's Equerry
Equerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
], and Scotland Yard detectives. Yet I saw the Prince moving baggage. In such democratic tendencies lay nourishment for a much bigger dog. This, as I realized long after, had been Prince Bites Puppy. The bigger the man, the bigger the dog. Before I could turn Ric about, the future King and Duke of Windsor again emerged and we collided in the narrow passageway."
Weld was a founding member of the Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
. When the Paris paper, the Tribune, died in 1934, a victim of the Depression, Weld, under the headline "Girl Reporter Tells It All on Last Day," affectionately recalled some of her colleagues' "conversational identifications." Ralph Jules Frantz: "Did you get the story? Swell!" Louis Atlas: "I'm fed up. Where you going to eat?" May Birkhead: "Be that as it may ..." B. J. Kospoth: "What's that? I've been at the Embassy all afternoon. But there's no story there." Edmond Taylor: "Call me up if anything breaks." Wilfred Barber: "That was July 2, 1887 at 3:10 in the morning, and it was raining, because ..." Robert Sage: "There's not enough air in here, let's open a window." Alex Small: "My dear fellow! Didn't you know? Why of course, Louis XIV, when he built the palace at Versailles, said . . ." Robert L. Stern: "You can't write that! You gotta have a new lead." Mary Fentress: "American Hospital? Anybody dead?"
Collaboration with Frank Buck
Weld was co-author of one book with Frank BuckFrank Buck (animal collector)
Frank Howard Buck was a hunter and "collector of wild animals," as well as a movie actor, director, writer and producer...
: Animals are Like That (1939).
If you should find yourself with a monkey or ape on your hands and no knowledge of what to do with it, Buck tells Weld, just treat it like a child. And the elephant, like a man in the tropics, needs a sheltered siesta in mid-afternoon because he is susceptible to sunstroke.
Monkeys pick up human ways and copy them. But you should never, never trust a tiger, any more than you should trust a crocodile.
Weld did public relations for Buck, in particular for his 1939 World's Fair Jungleland
exhibit, and also handled his west coast publicity.
Later life
In 1940-42 Carol Weld worked for the British-American Ambulance Corps. Additionally, she organized and served as corps chairman for the West Coast Committee for the American Volunteer Ambulance Corps in France (at 9710 and 11716 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles). From 1943-48 she was a press representative for RKO Radio. In 1951, with a colleague, Dickson Hartwell, Carol Weld wrote an admiring article about Taborian Hospital in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. When the hospital opened in 1942, African-American patients in the Delta could, for the first time, walk through the front door of a medical facility rather than through the side entrance marked "colored." Until 1967 the Taborian Hospital and its fraternal rival in Mound Bayou, the Friendship Clinic, which had been founded in 1948, provided medical services to thousands of Mississippi African-Americans. In 1954 Weld worked as the editor for the New Smyrna Times in New Smyrna, Florida.Weld retired to Florida (1512 Glencoe Road, Winter Park) and worked as a free lance writer. She died in Miami after a long illness.
External links
- Carol Weld papers at the University of WyomingUniversity of WyomingThe University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
- American Heritage CenterAmerican Heritage CenterThe American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West and a select handful of national topics: environment and conservation, the mining and petroleum industries,...