Evan Biddle Shipman (October 23, 1904 – June 24, 1957) was an American novelist, poet, newspaperman and soldier. After schooling in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, Shipman befriended fellow American writer

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

in 1920s Paris and wrote poems and articles for various American magazines. In 1937, he aided the

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

side in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and was wounded in battle. He returned to the United States in 1938 and served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

. He was a long-time columnist of ''

The Morning Telegraph ''The Morning Telegraph'' (1839 – April 10, 1972) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Morning Telegraph'') was a New York City broadsheet newspaper owned by Moe Annenberg's Cecelia Corporation. It was first published as the ''Sunday Me ...

'' and a recognized expert on

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given Horse breed, breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired chara ...

. The Evan Shipman Handicap is named for him.

Life

Evan Biddle Shipman was born in

Plainfield, New Hampshire Plainfield is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 2,459. The town is home to the Helen Woodruff Smith Bird Sanctuary and Annie Duncan State Forest. The village of ...

, on October 23, 1904, son of the playwright and editor

Louis Evan Shipman Louis Evan Shipman (1869–1933) was an American playwright and newspaperman. Louis Evan Shipman was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 2, 1869. He wrote editorials for ''Leslie's Weekly'' in 1895 and 1896 and edited ''Life'' from 1922 to 1924 ...

and his wife Ellen McGowan Biddle Shipman, the landscape architect. He attended various schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and read widely, encouraged by his father; although a lifelong love of horse racing affected his attendance. After 1917, Shipman traveled in Europe, taking degrees at the

University of Louvain UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain , French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain) is Belgium's largest French-speaking university and one of the oldest in Europe (originally establishe ...

and the Sorbonne. He returned to Paris in 1924 to focus on his writing. In Paris, he became an acquaintance of fellow American expatriates Ernest Hemingway and

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...

, and the French painter

André Masson André-Aimé-René Masson (; 4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Biography Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brus ...

. Shipman enjoyed the boozy literary scene. His poems and articles were published in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', ''

Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...

'', and later ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' and ''Esquire''. In 1937, partly convinced by Hemingway, Shipman, whose marriage had failed, decided to devote himself to the Loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War. He first drove ambulances and led American volunteers for the Lincoln Brigade from France into Spain across the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

, and then saw action as an infantryman in the battles of

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

and Bruente, being badly wounded at Brunete. He carried shrapnel fragments in his leg until his death. Shipman returned to the United States in 1938 and found work as a columnist of the New York ''Morning Telegraph'', but soon after America's entry into World War II in 1941, he enlisted with the U.S. Army and became a war correspondent. He was sergeant major of the

16th Armored Division The 16th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. In its one and only combat operation, the 16th Armored Division liberated the city of Plzeň in western Czechoslovakia (today the Czech Republic), an ...

's 16th Regiment, and was also with the 787th Tank Battalion until its deactivation in 1945. After the end of World War II, Shipman returned to journalism and eventually became a featured columnist of the ''Morning Telegraph''. He was also a recognized expert on thoroughbred and harness racing and a columnist of the ''

Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of rac ...

''. He died of cancer on June 24, 1957, in

New York Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center (; previously known as New York Hospital, Old New York Hospital, and City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is the teaching hospital for Cornell University's medical school and is part of NewYork-P ...

, and was buried in Gilkey Cemetery in

. The Evan Shipman Handicap at

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a thoroughbred racing, thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Stat ...

was later named for him.

Personal

While living in the United States, Shipman married Elizabeth Gerwig of Pittsburgh in 1934. The union was troubled by

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, and Elizabeth, who became insane, was confined to an asylum, while Shipman went back to Paris in 1937.

Works

* ''Free For All'' (New York: Scribner's, 1935), a novel about

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

(trotters) * "Mazeppa" (1936), a poem which likens women to flowers, partly based on his wife * ''The Racing Memoirs of John Hertz as told to Evan Shipman'' (Chicago, Privately Printed, 1954), non-fiction

Literary allusions

Evan Shipman is mentioned in ''

Death in the Afternoon ''Death in the Afternoon'' is a non-fiction book written by Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understat ...

'' (1932), Hemingway's account of Spanish bullfighting, as a fellow admirer of a certain half-bred racehorse, a steeplechaser, named Uncas. "Uncas, when he won a classic steeplechase race at Auteuil at odds of better than ten to one, carrying my money on him, I felt profound affection for. But if you should ask me what eventually happened to this animal that I was so fond of that Evan Shipman and I were nearly moved to tears when speaking of the noble beast, I would have to answer that I do not know." Hemingway went on to portray his friend at greater length in the section of ''

A Moveable Feast ''A Moveable Feast'' is a memoir by Ernest Hemingway about his years as a struggling expatriate journalist and writer in Paris during the 1920s. It was published posthumously in 1964. The book chronicles Hemingway's first marriage to Hadley Ric ...

'' (1964) titled "Evan Shipman at the Lilas".

References

External links