Robert Lowry (writer)

Robert James Collas Lowry (28 March 1919 — December 5 1994) was an American novelist, short story writer, and independent press publisher.

Lowry was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a literary wunderkind, beginning writing at the age of eight; within a year, he had stories published in the "Cincinnati Times Star" newspaper. He graduated from Withrow High School in 1937, after which he entered the University of Cincinnati.

With illustrator James Flora, a student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, he founded [http://www.jimflora.com/gallery/littlemanpress.html The Little Man Press] in 1938. Lowry and Flora published dozens of chapbooks under the Little Man imprint from 1939 to 1942. Lowry authored many titles (some under such pseudonyms as James Caldwell), but the Little Man imprint also published essays and fiction by William Saroyan, Thomas Mann, Jesse Stuart, Charles Henri Ford, William Edward March Campbell, and others. Following Flora's departure, Lowry continued to sporadically publish titles under a succession of revived Little Man imprints.

Career as Novelist

In 1942 Lowry was drafted, and served three years in the US military during World War II, during which he saw combat in North Africa and Italy. After his discharge, he divorced his first wife, wrote critically acclaimed fiction (his fans included Ernest Hemingway), and penned an autobiographical novel ("The Big Cage"). His published works included "Casualty" (1946), "Find Me in Fire" (1948; cover teaser: "She Was Young But Ripe For Love"), and "The Violent Wedding" (1953). His short stories appeared in "Mademoiselle", "New Directions", "Collier's", "Horizon", "The American Mercury", and other periodicals. His short fiction was collected in three volumes, "The Wolf That Fed Us" (Doubleday, 1949), "Happy New Year, Kamerades!" (Doubleday, 1954), and "Party of Dreamers" (Fleet Publishing Corp., 1962).

Lowry's writings in the late 1940s and 1950s recounted his wartime experiences. He also wrote colorfully about life in New York's Greenwich Village during the emergence of the beatnik scene. During the 1950s Lowry penned book reviews for "Time" magazine and the "Saturday Review of Literature".

In 1950, he won the O. Henry Award for his short story "Be Nice to Mr. Campbell." Another Lowry story, [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053349/ "That Kind of Woman"] , was adapted for a 1959 feature film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Sophia Loren.

Lowry also dabbled in visual arts. He illustrated the covers of some of his independently published works, and the title page of each story in "Happy New Year, Kamerades", was adorned with a minimalist brush-and-ink illustration by the author.

Mental Decline

Lowry had dark impulses, which were exacerbated by liquor. "In Cincinnati," recalled Flora, "he would take one drink and go berserk, throwing himself on the floor, saying, 'I'm a rug! I'm a rug! Step on me!'"

In 1952, following a second marriage and the birth of a son, Beirne, Lowry was diagnosed a schizophrenic and forced to undergo electric shock therapy. He spent the rest of his life passing in and out of "insane asylums" (his preferred term), squalid hotels, and turbulent relationships with women (including two more marriages). In 1967, the increasingly unstable Lowry attempted to revive the American Nazi Party. He continued writing, but because of his volatile and unpredictable personality, reputable publishers declined to publish his manuscripts. During the final decades of his life, Lowry, often destitute, self-published many additional works.

He died in Cincinnati, age 75, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Cincinnati. At the time of his death, all his commercially published books were out of print.

Quotes about Lowry and his writing

"Best writer in America today" - Ernest Hemingway, in response to an Italian publisher who asked him what he thought of Lowry

"Lowry's world is a brutal one, and he describes it with a realism underlaid with a disquieting element of fantasy. Heroes and bums and ordinary guys walk through these pages; tarts and mothers and working girls are their companions. But whether Lowry is describing an abortion with a graphic power that makes the reader hurt inside, or telling of a mother's rediscovery of the maternal instinct, or probing into the lives of a group of G.I.s and officers trapped on the meaningless treadmill of overseas life, he hits hard and true." - "Happy New Year, Kamerades", 1954 hardcover edition jacket flap

" [We] were like young contestants vying for the same prize so neither of us was particularly ready to compliment the other nor to look for friendship." - Norman Mailer, upon meeting Lowry over drinks in Paris, 1948

External Links and References

* [http://citybeat.com/2003-12-03/cover.shtml Maddening Genius] , article, Cincinnati CityBeat, December 3, 2003
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0523365/ Lowry television and film writing credits] at Internet Movie Database
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9807EFD71E38F930A15751C1A962958260 Obituary] , New York Times, 23 December 1994
* [http://www.robertlowry.de/archiv/jeyes.htm Robert Lowry: An American Tragedy] , profile by Billie Jeyes
* [http://www.robertlowry.de/ Robert Lowry website]
* [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-11412204_ITM/ Biographical article] in Review of Contemporary Fiction by James Reidel
* [http://www.heinz-wohlers.de/0000009809112436c/00000098091127b78/ Robert Lowry Journal] at Heinz Wohlers Publishing
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,805185,00.html Time Magazine review] of Lowry's autobiographical novel, "The Big Cage"
* [http://www.jimflora.com/gallery/littlemanpress.html Little Man Press] chronicle and artwork at JimFlora.com

Original Works by Lowry online

*Text and artwork for [http://www.robertlowry.de/archiv/pip_pap_po.htm Pip Pap Po] , an early Little Man Press publication
*Text of [http://issuu.com/h1wohlers/docs/the_knife The Knife] , Lowry's self-published 1959 novella, with intro by Jim Reidel.

Academic Collections

* [http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/findingaids/lowry/inventory.html Robert Lowry Collection] at University of Southern California Library
* [http://speccoll.library.kent.edu/literature/poetry/lowry.html Robert Lowry Collection] , at Kent State University