Donald Hough
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Donald Merriam Hough (June 29, 1895 – May 11, 1965) was an American humorist and author of 7 books, over 400 magazine articles, and 3 film scripts for the
Hal Roach's Streamliners Hal Roach's Streamliners are a series of featurette comedy films created by Hal Roach that are longer than a short subject and shorter than a feature film, not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the 29 features that Roach produced for United ...
series. He was also a popular writer for several
hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...
,
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
and outdoor magazines including: ''
Outdoor Life ''Outdoor Life'' is an outdoors magazine about camping, fishing, hunting, and survival. For years, it was a sister magazine of '' Field & Stream''. Together with '' Sports Afield'', they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publish ...
'', ''
Forest and Stream ''Forest and Stream'' was a magazine featuring hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities in the United States. The magazine was founded in August 1873 by Charles Hallock. When independent publication ceased, in 1930, it was the ninth oldes ...
'', ''Outer's Book'', ''
Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...
'', '' Fins, Feathers, and Fur'', ''
Field and Stream ''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American magazine focusing on sport hunting, recreational fishing and other outdoor activities. It was a print publication between 1895 and 2015, and became an online-only publication in 2020. After ...
'', and was a frequent contributor to '' Outdoor America'', ''
Collier's Magazine } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
'', ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'' and ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
'', having written 28 articles for them. In addition to his extensive writing career, he also had jobs as a publicist, advertising and sales manager, and taught at The City College of New York and the State University of Iowa. Hough moved around a lot during his lifetime, with reports of him living in Minnesota, New York City, Hollywood, and Wyoming.


Early life and career

Hough was born in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
in 1895 to Sherwood P. Hough, and Edith Evelyn . Hough's boyhood home was a grouping of five trolley cars: a kitchen, dining room, living room and two bedrooms. Hough's father, who was a purchasing agent for the Tri-State Telephone Company in St. Paul, found about an offer of free streetcars being given away, and took five of the cars and moved them on to a lot he owned. He remodeled the cars by adding a stable roof, resurfacing the interior walls, and building a fieldstone fireplace. Hough's book ''The Streetcar House'' is a tribute to his father, and the dust cover illustration of his book shows the end result of his father's work on their "Streetcar House". In 1917, he enlisted in the
Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army responsible for creating and managing communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860 by ...
, serving as a First Lieutenant in France during World War I. After returning from the war, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service, and as a night beat police reporter for the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'' and later for the ''St. Paul Daily News''. Throughout his literary career, he wrote articles for several outdoor magazines, such as: ''
Outdoor Life ''Outdoor Life'' is an outdoors magazine about camping, fishing, hunting, and survival. For years, it was a sister magazine of '' Field & Stream''. Together with '' Sports Afield'', they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publish ...
'', ''
Forest and Stream ''Forest and Stream'' was a magazine featuring hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities in the United States. The magazine was founded in August 1873 by Charles Hallock. When independent publication ceased, in 1930, it was the ninth oldes ...
'', ''
Sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...
'', ''
Field and Stream ''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American magazine focusing on sport hunting, recreational fishing and other outdoor activities. It was a print publication between 1895 and 2015, and became an online-only publication in 2020. After ...
'', and was a frequent contributor to '' Outdoor America''. In 1923, he was a National Director of the
Izaak Walton League The Izaak Walton League of America, Inc. is an American environmental organization founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by a group of sportsmen who wi ...
, who published ''Outdoor America''. He also worked as a freelance writer for several national magazines like ''
Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
'', ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
'', ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'', ''Esquire'' and ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
'', having written 28 articles for them. In 1938, Hough and his family were on their way to
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
for a vacation, when he decided to stop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming to do some fishing. Gambling was illegal at that time, but law enforcement looked the other way, and Hough proceeded to lose all their money in a roulette game in Jackson Hole. Now that the family was penniless, they were forced to stay in the small town of 500 people, where he took odd jobs in town, including being a bartender, to support his family. In 1943, his first book ''Snow Above Town'' was published, which was inspired from the time he had lived in Jackson Hole, and featured several stories and anecdotes from his various jobs and folks that he had encountered while living there. The Armed Services helped him out with his book by printing and distributing over 250,000 copies in an
Armed Services Edition Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to ...
, which were shipped overseas to the troops. He eventually moved out of Wyoming and headed to Hollywood where he turned his stories into short films for the
Hal Roach's Streamliners Hal Roach's Streamliners are a series of featurette comedy films created by Hal Roach that are longer than a short subject and shorter than a feature film, not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the 29 features that Roach produced for United ...
series. He also worked for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' as a Hollywood columnist during his time in California. In the spring of 1942, after the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
, he re-enlisted as a Captain in the Air Force, first serving as a gunnery instructor at a base in Las Vegas, before being shipped overseas to the Southwest Pacific. During his service in WWII, he wrote ''Captain Retread'' (WWI vets who volunteered for WW II were called retreads) and ''Darling, I Am Home''. The Office of War Information reprinted ''Captain Retread'' in English, French, German and Italian, and Hough had the distinction of having more copies of his books released through Armed Services editions than any other author. Edward Streeter wrote in his review of the book that it was a "grand book" and that "it was time that we old timers had a spokesman". Streeter was particularly impressed with a passage from the book, quoting Hough saying: "the last time I went to war, I simply went to war. I kissed mother, wished dad godspeed and went away. This time I am attending the Army as I might attend a football game". ''
The Field Artillery Journal ''Field Artillery'' (or FA) is a professionally published magazine on the subject of field artillery, published from 1911 to 2007, and after a brief hiatus now published quarterly. It is published by the US Field Artillery Association, headquarter ...
'' called it a "damn fine book" and a "delightful yarn" that will "amuse you", but at the same time is a "serious book about the Army, particularly in explaining the vexed problems of morale, leadership and civilian-soldier relations". In 1944, Hough appeared on the
NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...
show ''Words At War'', a program produced in cooperation with the
Council on Books in Wartime The Council on Books in Wartime (1942–1946) was an American non-profit organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, authors, and others, in the spring of 1942 to channel the use of books as "weapons in the war of ideas" (the ...
. The show was narrated by
Carl Van Doren Carl Clinton Van Doren (September 10, 1885 – July 18, 1950) was an American critic and biographer. He was the brother of critic and teacher Mark Van Doren and the uncle of Charles Van Doren. He won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Aut ...
, and each episode of the show was based on the works of authors who had written books or other literature during WWII. Hough's appearance was a dramatic re-telling of his own personal war stories based on his book ''Captain Retread''. In 1949, he returned to Jackson Hole and started compiling stories for his book ''The Cocktail Hour in Jackson Hole'', a sequel to his first book ''Snow Above Town''. The sequel was a humorous and somewhat satirical account of what happened in Jackson Hole when all of the tourists left.
Marshall Sprague Marshall Sprague (March 14, 1909 – September 9, 1994) was an American journalist in New York, Paris, and China and writer of books about western United States history. From Ohio, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to recuperate following a d ...
opined in his review of the book that it was "fresh, joyous, wildly comic and indefatigably fond". He further stated that there was "no stuff about 'tonic air' or 'monumental uplands', and no "junk on the
Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
or ominous lectures on conservatism", but rather just a "
Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...
" approach to the
Tetons The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. It extends for approximately in a north–south direction through the U.S. state of Wyoming, east of the Idaho state line. It is south of Yellowstone National Park, ...
. Jackson Hole was also home to fellow writers
Struthers Burt Maxwell Struthers Burt (October 18, 1882 Baltimore, Maryland – August 29, 1954, Jackson Hole, Wyoming), was an American novelist, poet, and short-story writer. Life Struthers Burt grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended private schools an ...
and Katherine Burt, whom Hough was friends with. The town had furnished the pair of writers with abundant material for their books as well. Like Hough, Struthers was also a frequent contributor to ''The Saturday Evening Post''.


Retirement and death

After his wife died, he moved back to Jackson Hole to retire, living on his military pension. A reporter for ''The Jackson Hole Guide'' recalled that Hough was a "pitiful shell of the once roistering Hough, broken in health and just plain broke". A local bartender remembered Hough telling her that if he "stayed late enough, people walked away and left their drinks, and you could pick one up and didn't have to buy them". In May 1965, Hough dropped a burning cigarette next to his recliner chair, and went to bed. As a result of the fire, he died of smoke inhalation. Hough was a veteran of both World Wars, and was buried with full military honors, including a color guard and a firing squad. He was buried at the Aspen Hill Cemetery in Jackson, Wyoming.


Books

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Selected magazine articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Filmography

;From
Hal Roach's Streamliners Hal Roach's Streamliners are a series of featurette comedy films created by Hal Roach that are longer than a short subject and shorter than a feature film, not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the 29 features that Roach produced for United ...
* 1942: '' Dudes Are Pretty People'' * 1943: ''
Prairie Chickens ''Prairie Chickens'' is a 1943 American Western film and a sequel to '' Dudes are Pretty People'' (1942) and '' Calaboose'' (1943), Western films from "Hal Roach's Streamliners", a series of approximately 50-minute comedic movies, in this case ...
'' * 1943: '' Calaboose'' ;Television series * 1953: ''
Four Star Playhouse ''Four Star Playhouse'' (syndicated as Star Performance) is an American anthology series that ran from September 25, 1952, through September 27, 1956. Overview Four Star Playhouse was owned by Four Star International. Its episodes ranged an ...
'' episode: A Place Of His Own * ''
The Unforeseen ''The Unforeseen'' is a Canadian drama television series which aired on CBC Television from 1958 to 1960. Premise This anthology series featured stories of suspense or plots with surprise endings. Donald Jack and executive producer Peter Franci ...
episode: Mr. Charles''


See also

*
Corey Ford Corey Ford (April 29, 1902 – July 27, 1969) was an American humorist, writer, outdoorsman, and screenwriter. He was friendly with several members of the Algonquin Round Table in New York City and occasionally lunched there. Early years Ford wa ...
*
Izaak Walton Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'' (1653), he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been ...
*
Maxwell Struthers Burt Maxwell Struthers Burt (October 18, 1882 Baltimore, Maryland – August 29, 1954, Jackson Hole, Wyoming), was an American novelist, poet, and short-story writer. Life Struthers Burt grew up in Philadelphia, where he attended private schools an ...


Notes


References


Further reading

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External links

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Review Of The Film: Prairie Chickens
in ''The Film Daily'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hough, Donald 1895 births 1965 deaths American male novelists American male screenwriters 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters The Saturday Evening Post people American magazine writers Esquire (magazine) people Harper's Magazine people People from Jackson Hole, Wyoming United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army personnel of World War II American humorists Writers from Wyoming Writers from Minnesota