- George Davis (editor)
Infobox Person
name = George Davis
image_size = 200 px
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = 1906
birth_place =
death_date = death year and age|1957|1906
death_place =Berlin ,Germany
body_discovered =
death_cause = Heart attack
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = American
ethnicity =
citizenship =
other_names =
known_for = "the Opening of a Door" & editorial work
education =
alma_mater =
employer =Harper's Bazaar (1936-41), Mademoiselle
occupation = Editor,novelist
home_town =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
boards =
religion =
spouse =Lotte Lenya
partner =
children =
parents =
relations =
callsign =
website =
footnotes =George Davis (1906 – 1957) was an influential American fiction editor and minor
novelist .Early life
After an early period in
Chicago , Davis spent much of his twenties as an expatriate inParis .Literary career
The Opening of a Door
His only novel, "the Opening of a Door", was published to critical praise in 1931.
Editorialship
He served as fiction editor of the periodical
Harper's Bazaar from the years 1936 to 1941. After being fired from Harper's, he served as an editor for Mademoiselle for eight years. An overweight alcoholic and flamboyant [Murdoch, James. "Peggy Glanville-Hicks: a Transposed Life". p. 39. Pendragon Press, 2002] homosexual, [Rowley, Hazel. "Richard Wright: the Life and Times." p. 269. Macmillan, 2001.] he is noted for attempting to bring serious literature to the generally light world of woman's magazines. He was an early sponsor of such diverse literary figures asTruman Capote ,Ray Bradbury andJane Bowles .February House
Davis and several friends, including
Gypsy Rose Lee , founded an art commune at 7 Middagh Street in Brooklyn Heights in October 1940. Dubbed February House byAnaïs Nin because so many of its residents had February birthdays, the house became a hub of cultural activities in New York. Figures likeBenjamin Britten ,W. H. Auden andCarson McCullers were live-in guests. A study of 7 Middagh Street, entitled "February House", was published in 2005.Death
He died of a heart attack in
Berlin , where he had been helping his wife, singerLotte Lenya , to make recordings.Fact|date=September 2008Davis in literature
A very unflattering literary duplicate of George Davis was written by Truman Capote in the form of the character "Boaty" in his unfinished work "". [cite web| url=http://www.psychobiography.com/articles/capote.html| author=William Todd Schultz| title=Why Did Capote Write Answered Prayers?| Access=2-26-2007]
References
*Clarke, Gerald. "Capote: A Biography". Carroll & Graf, 2005.
*Tippins, Sherill. "February House: The Story of W. H. Auden, Carson McCullers, Jane and Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, and Gypsy Rose Lee, Under One Roof In Wartime America". Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.