Lucien Price
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Junius Lucien Price (January 6, 1883 – March 30, 1964), who also published under the name Seymour Deming,
Price, Lucien, 1883–1964. Correspondence and compositions: Guide. Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University Library
was the author of more than a dozen books and a writer for publications such as the ''
Boston Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published for over a century from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. History Founding ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James We ...
'' and ''
The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 ...
''. At the time of his death at age 81, he was still writing for ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
''.
Record.com, "He never forgot Kent; Lucien Price immortalized fond memories of hometown" (April 27, 2008)


Biography

Price had a
Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...
grandfather, Abel Burt, who left
Brimfield, Massachusetts Brimfield is a New England town, town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,694 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield ...
, and settled in Brimfield, Ohio in the
Connecticut Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. Warren, Ohio was the Historic Capital in Trumbull County. T ...
. "We were
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 ...
transplantees," Price wrote of his family, "and we had two choices: either to rot or to grow". Price was born January 6, 1883, in
Kent, Ohio Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 United States ...
. A journalist there later reported that Price "immortalized fond memories of hometown" there. In his writing Price created "Woolwick," a
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
for Kent, and described the place as "built on the banks of a steep
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...
... half
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
-
junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (2012 film), an American film * ''Junction'' (2024 film), an American film * ''Jjunction'', a 2002 Indian film * ''Junction'' (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (E ...
and half agrarian
market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...
-
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
". Price attended
Western Reserve Academy Western Reserve Academy (WRA), or simply Reserve, is a private, midsized, coeducational boarding and day college preparatory school located in Hudson, Ohio, United States. A boarding school, Western Reserve Academy is largely a residential ...
in
Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in northern Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan area. John Brown made his first public vow to destroy slavery here and the ci ...
. He kept in close contact with his prep school for the rest of his life and was regularly invited back for events. Prince had "lengthy and lively correspondence with Headmaster Joel B. Hayden" and, near the end of his life, made arrangements to transfer approximately 3,000 volumes of his personal library to Western Reserve Academy. There was for several years a "Lucien Price Room" suitable as classroom space and used to house some special items of the "Lucien Price Book Collection", but the room was phased out with the start of the new John D. Ong Library in the spring of 2000.
Lucien Price Book Collection at WRA Library
After his 1901 graduation from Western Reserve Academy, Price left Ohio and attended
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and graduated with
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
honors in 1907. While there, although not 'out' he was fairly open about his homosexuality and several of his early books relate the love affair he had there with a fellow Harvard student. Several chapters of Douglass Shand-Tucci's book "The Crimson Letter: Harvard, Homosexuality, and the Shaping of American Culture" are devoted to Price. He joined the staff of the ''
Boston Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published for over a century from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. History Founding ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James We ...
'' as an editorial writer and arts reviewer from 1907 to 1914. He went on to create "an illustrious career as a writer and journalist" in
Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...
and wrote for ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' for the rest of his life. Price died March 30, 1964, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
. Among Price's published work is a book based on recorded conversations with English
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
and
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
Alfred North Whitehead Alfred North Whitehead (15 February 1861 – 30 December 1947) was an English mathematician and philosopher. He created the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which has been applied in a wide variety of disciplines, inclu ...
,'' Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead''. He also published books on education as well as
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
s of his early life in Ohio. Three of his books were published under the pseudonym "Seymour Deming". In 1965, a year after the author's death, Mrs. F. H. Middleton of
Hudson, Massachusetts Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, with a total population of 20,092 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Before its incorporation as a town in 1866, Hudson was a ne ...
, gave Price's personal papers and correspondence to Harvard where they are now housed in the Houghton Library of
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and take up six boxes, each three feet in length. A separate collection of his papers from 1951 to 1958 are kept at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. This group of material includes notes, manuscripts, typescripts, and galley proofs for ''Hellas Regained'', ''October Rhapsody'', and ''The Sacred Legion'' — three novels in Price's "All Souls" series.
Columbia University Libraries, Columbia University


References


External links

* * *
Finding aid to Lucien Price manuscripts at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Lucien 1883 births 1964 deaths American male journalists Boston Evening Transcript people Harvard University alumni People from Kent, Ohio Journalists from Ohio The Boston Globe people Western Reserve Academy alumni