Lucius Beebe

Infobox Person
name = Lucius Morris Beebe flagicon|USA


image_size = 300px
caption = Lucius Beebe (r), with Charles Clegg at their home office while publishing the "Territorial Enterprise" newspaper, Virginia City, Nevada.
birth_name =
birth_date = Birth date|1902|12|9
birth_place = Wakefield, Massachusetts
death_date = Death date and age|1966|2|4|1902|12|9
death_place = San Francisco, California
death_cause = Heart attack
residence = Boston; New York; San Francisco; Virginia City, Nevada
other_names =
known_for = Railroad history and documenting café society
education = Harvard University - 1926, Yale University
employer = "New York Herald Tribune", "San Francisco Examiner", "Boston Telegram", "Boston Evening Transcript", "Territorial Enterprise"
occupation = Author, Journalist, Columnist, Photographer, Gourmand
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partner = Jerome Zerbe, Charles Clegg
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Lucius Morris Beebe (December 9, 1902 – February 4, 1966) was an American author, gourmand, photographer, railroad historian, journalist, and syndicated columnist.

Early life and education

Beebe was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, to a prominent Boston family. Beebe attended both Harvard University and Yale University. During his tenure at boarding school and university, Beebe was known for his numerous pranks. One of his more outrageous stunts included an attempt at festooning J. P. Morgan's yacht "Corsair" with toilet paper from a chartered airplane. [citation |title=Review of "Snoot if You Must" |newspaper=TIME Magazine |date=November 29, 1943 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791195-1,00.html ] His pranks were not without consequence and he proudly noted that he had the sole distinction of having been expelled from both Harvard and Yale, at the insistence, respectively, of the president and dean of each. ["The Lucius Beebe Reader", p. 7.] Beebe earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1926, only to be expelled during graduate school.

Journalist

During and immediately after obtaining his degree from Harvard, Beebe published several books of poetry, but eventually found his true calling in journalism. He worked as a journalist for the "New York Herald Tribune", the "San Francisco Examiner", the "Boston Telegram", and the "Boston Evening Transcript" and was a contributing writer to many magazines such as "Gourmet", "The New Yorker", "Town and Country", "Holiday", "American Heritage" and "Playboy". Beebe re-launched Nevada's first newspaper, the "Territorial Enterprise", in 1952.

Beebe wrote a syndicated column for the "New York Herald Tribune" from the 1930s through 1944 called "This New York." The column chronicled the doings of fashionable society at such storied restaurants and nightclubs as El Morocco, the 21 Club, the Stork Club, and the Colony. Mr. Beebe is credited with popularizing the term "cafe society" which was used to describe the people mentioned in his column.

In 1950, Beebe and his long-time friend and partner, Charles M. Clegg, moved to Virginia City, Nevada, where they purchased and restored the Piper family home and later purchased the dormant Territorial Enterprise newspaper. The newspaper was relaunched in 1952 and by 1954 had achieved the highest circulation in the West for a weekly newspaper. He and Clegg co-wrote the "That Was the West" series of historical essays for the newspaper.

In 1960 Beebe began work with the San Francisco Chronicle where he wrote a syndicated column, "This Wild West"."The Provacative Pen of Lucius Beebe, Esq.", p. vii."] During the six years that he wrote the column, Beebe covered such topics as economics, politics, journalism, religion, history, morals, justice, finance and travel.

Gourmand

Beebe was a noted gourmand. He had his own column "Along the Boulevard," in in "Gourmet", and wrote extensively for "Holiday", and "Playboy" about restaurants and dining experiences around the world. Some of the restaurants he covered include The Colony, The Stork Club [Kamp, David "The United States of Arugula", New York: Broadway Books, 2006.] , The Pump Room, the 21 Club, Simpson's-in-the-Strand, and Chasen's. A noted wine aficinado, he was a member of the "Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin".

Author

In addition to his work as a journalist, Beebe wrote over 30 books. His books dealt primarily with railroading and café society. Many of his railroad books were written with longtime companion,the photographer Charles Clegg.

Beebe was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1992.

Railroad history

Along with Clegg, Beebe owned two private railcars, the "Gold Coast" and "The Virginia City". The "Gold Coast," Georgia Northern / Central of Georgia No. 100, was built in 1905 and is now at the California State Railroad Museum. After Beebe and Clegg purchased "The Virginia City" they had it refurbished and redecorated by famed Hollywood set designer Robert T. Hanley in a style known as "Venetian Renaissance Baroque". "The Virginia City" has been restored and currently operates as an excursion carriage. [cite web |title=VC History |url=http://www.vcrail.com/vchistory_railcars.htm |accessdate=2007-07-16 ]

hip travel

Beebe was also a noted partisan of the Cunard Line and passenger liner travel in general. He wrote several articles about trans-Atlantic passage on Cunard ships during the "Golden Era" of the 20's, 30's and 40's.

artorial splendor

A noted "boulevardier", Beebe had an impressive and baroque wardrobe. Beebe's clothing included 40 suits, at least two mink-lined overcoats, numerous top hats and bowlers, a collection of doeskin gloves, walking sticks, and a substantial gold nugget watch chain. [ Emrich, D. "Biographical Sketch" in "The Lucius Beebe Reader", p. 391.] Columnist Walter Winchell referred to Beebe and his wardrobe as "Luscious Lucius." [ Emrich, D. "Biographical Sketch" in "The Lucius Beebe Reader", p. 391.] Beebe's sartorial splendor was recognized when he appeared in full formal day attire on the cover of "Life" over the title of "Lucius Beebe Sets a Style." [ "Lucius Beebe Sets a Style","Life Magazine", cover page, January 16, 1939.] [http://www.life.com/Life/cover_search/view?coverkeyword=beebe&startMonth=1&startYear=1936&endMonth=12&endYear=2007&pageNumber=1&indexNumber=0]

Many of Beebe's articles and columns addressed men's traditional fashion. He was especially fond of English bespoke tailoring and shoes and wrote glowing articles about noted court tailor Henry Poole and Company and noted bootmaker John Lobb, whom he patronized on a regular basis. He also liked ties, particularly from Charvet in Paris ["The Lucius Beebe Reader" , p. 214] , men's hats and wrote of the history of the bowler hat. ["The Bowler" in "The Lucius Beebe Reader", p. 278.]

Personal life

In 1940, Beebe met Charles Clegg while both were houseguests at the Washington, D.C. home of Evalyn Walsh McLean. The two soon developed a personal and professional relationship that continued for the rest of Beebe's life. By the standards of the era, the homosexual relationship Beebe and Clegg shared was relatively open and well-known.Reevy, Tony, and Dan Cupper. " [http://rlhs.org/rrhistry/rrh193/index.html Mixed Legacy.] " Railroad History 193 (Fall-Winter 2005), 28-39.] Previously, Beebe had been involved with society photographer Jerome Zerbe.

The pair initially lived in New York City, where both men were prominent in café society circles. Eventually tiring of that social life, the two moved in 1950 to Virginia City, Nevada, a tiny community that had once been a fabled mining boomtown. There, they reactivated and began publishing the Territorial Enterprise, a fabled 19th century newspaper that had once been the employer of Mark Twain. Beebe and Clegg shared a renovated mansion in the town, traveled extensively, and remained prominent in social circles.

Beebe was a community activist while living in Nevada. He was appointed by Nevada's governor to be a member of the Nevada State Centennial Committee (1958) and was Chairman of the Silver Centennial Monument Committee, groups that planned events honoring Nevada's and Virginia City's history. Through their efforts, the federal government commissioned a commemorative stamp in recognition of the discovery of the Comstock Lode in the Virginia City region.

Clegg and Beebe sold the Territorial Enterprise in 1961 and purchased a home in suburban San Francisco. They continued the writing, photography, and travel that had marked their lives until Beebe's death. Beebe died at the age of 63 of a sudden heart attack at his winter home in Hillsborough, California (near San Francisco) on Friday, February 4, 1966. A memorial service was held three days later, on Monday, February 7, at 11:00 a.m. at Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street in Boston. His ashes, reportedly along with those of two of his dogs, were returned to Massachusetts and are buried in Lakeside Cemetery in the Beebe family plot.

Clegg committed suicide in 1979.

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References

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*, "Wakefield Daily Item," Monday, February 7, 1966, p.1
* by Y. Jean Stephens, 1973. (Thesis on Beebe's life, University of Iowa, 1972).

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Notes

External links

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* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/nevada/bee.htm Piper Beebe House]
* [http://www.csrmf.org/doc.asp?id=176 California State Railroad Museum]
* [http://www.territorial-enterprise.com/ Territorial Enterprise]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6925942 Lucius Beebe's Photo & Gravesite]
* [http://www.life.com/Life/cover_search/view?coverkeyword=beebe&startMonth=1&startYear=1936&endMonth=12&endYear=2007&pageNumber=1&indexNumber=0 Beebe "Life" Cover Photo]
* [http://www.library.unr.edu/friends/hallfame/beebe.html Nevada Writers Hall of Fame]