Difference between revisions of "The Stars Are Right: Frank Lovejoy"

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Following the end of the war, Lovejoy, along with other Americans who had contributed to the war effort, was offered a place in Oxford. The high school dropout jumped at the chance. After graduating with a degree in History in 1923, he drifted around Europe for a few years, supporting himself as a correspondent for various American newspapers and magazines, among them the Chicago Star and the Detroit Evening Times. Although he tried his hand at writing fiction, producing a few short stories and a formless, nervous novel, Lovejoy was a better reader of fiction than a producer of it. He proved a popular newspaperman, however, and so in 1926 he accepted a job as a regular columnist in the Chicago Star and returned to the States to pen ''Night Beat,'' focusing on the disaffected and odd personalities and communities that thrived in the White City after hours.
 
Following the end of the war, Lovejoy, along with other Americans who had contributed to the war effort, was offered a place in Oxford. The high school dropout jumped at the chance. After graduating with a degree in History in 1923, he drifted around Europe for a few years, supporting himself as a correspondent for various American newspapers and magazines, among them the Chicago Star and the Detroit Evening Times. Although he tried his hand at writing fiction, producing a few short stories and a formless, nervous novel, Lovejoy was a better reader of fiction than a producer of it. He proved a popular newspaperman, however, and so in 1926 he accepted a job as a regular columnist in the Chicago Star and returned to the States to pen ''Night Beat,'' focusing on the disaffected and odd personalities and communities that thrived in the White City after hours.
  
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The crash of the stock market in 1929 cut deeply into the public's taste for the cavalcade of freaks, loners and dipsos that Lovejoy had chronicled with sympathy for nearly four years. The Star discontinued ''Night Beat,'' but offered to keep him on staff as a regular reporter for a substantially reduced salary. With more pride than sense, he declined, and returned to Bloomfield to try his hand at writing another book.
+
The crash of the stock market in 1929 cut deeply into the public's taste for the cavalcade of freaks, loners and dipsos that Lovejoy had chronicled with sympathy for nearly four years. The Star discontinued ''Night Beat,'' but offered to keep him on staff as a regular reporter for a substantially reduced salary. With more pride than sense, he declined, and returned to Bloomfield to try his hand at writing another book. <u>Night Beat</u>, a memoir of his Chicago years, was critically well-received but failed to sell well: ''An intriguing mixture of fact, fable and speculation, [Night Beat] offers occult thrills, but fails to find a thread among the labyrinthine night-time streets of Chicago,'' ran the Star's review.
  
 
===[[FRANK LOVEJOY TIMELINE|TIMELINE]]===
 
===[[FRANK LOVEJOY TIMELINE|TIMELINE]]===

Revision as of 14:28, 21 June 2013

Times-Logo-(full).png
Frank Lovejoy
Name: Frank Lovejoy                                                 Str: 13               
Occupation: Journalist                                              Con: 08            
Nationality: American                                               Siz: 12                           
Gender: Male                                                        App: 12   
Age: 31 (August 8, 1901)                                            Dex: 07   
Height: 5'8"                                                        Pow: 12      
Weight: 157 lbs                                                     Int: 15   
Hair Color: Brown                                                   Edu: 16

FRANK LOVEJOY ARCHIVES

General Information

This page contains links to transcribed source material generated for and about Frank Lovejoy.


CAUTION!! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ABOUT OTHER CHARACTERS AND CURRENT PLOT THREADS.

The Biography contains details about Frank Lovejoy's personal history.

The Timeline contains a rough outline of Lovejoy's activities based on dates gleaned from the archived materials.

The Document section contains transcribed personal papers and other items from the archived materials.

The Journal section contains personal writings and/or observations on events within the campaign.

BIOGRAPHY

Born on August 28, 1900 as the third child of ten, Frank Lovejoy chafed at the oppressively blank horizons of his Bloomfield, Iowa home. An avid reader, he dreamed of mountains, oceans and cities, and vaguely resented the burdens placed on him as the oldest surviving child. His parents, Nick and Elsie Lovejoy, both the children of immigrants, encouraged his ambitions as much as they could, but were able to spare little of his time. Frank left school after completing the eighth grade to help his father in running his grocery store, making deliveries in the store van. Leaving school hurt deeply, but he continued his education as best he could, drawing heavily on the town's Carnegie library. Frank came to view this library, which opened on August 8, 1913, as an early birthday present from the steel magnate.

With the outbreak of the Great War in Europe, Frank saw his chance, and served as a driver for the American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps from 1916 until the end of the war. There he met other established and aspiring writers like John de Passos and Olaf Stapledon; Stapledon's position as a conscientious objector to the conflict was especially fascinating to Lovejoy, who adopted similar anti-military positions following his service.

Following the end of the war, Lovejoy, along with other Americans who had contributed to the war effort, was offered a place in Oxford. The high school dropout jumped at the chance. After graduating with a degree in History in 1923, he drifted around Europe for a few years, supporting himself as a correspondent for various American newspapers and magazines, among them the Chicago Star and the Detroit Evening Times. Although he tried his hand at writing fiction, producing a few short stories and a formless, nervous novel, Lovejoy was a better reader of fiction than a producer of it. He proved a popular newspaperman, however, and so in 1926 he accepted a job as a regular columnist in the Chicago Star and returned to the States to pen Night Beat, focusing on the disaffected and odd personalities and communities that thrived in the White City after hours.

The crash of the stock market in 1929 cut deeply into the public's taste for the cavalcade of freaks, loners and dipsos that Lovejoy had chronicled with sympathy for nearly four years. The Star discontinued Night Beat, but offered to keep him on staff as a regular reporter for a substantially reduced salary. With more pride than sense, he declined, and returned to Bloomfield to try his hand at writing another book. Night Beat, a memoir of his Chicago years, was critically well-received but failed to sell well: An intriguing mixture of fact, fable and speculation, [Night Beat] offers occult thrills, but fails to find a thread among the labyrinthine night-time streets of Chicago, ran the Star's review.

TIMELINE

FRANK LOVEJOY 1932 DOCUMENTS

Lovejoy is a staff writer for the Detroit Evening Times. Enclosed is a selection of articles written by him about the Irish Rose Matter.

FRANK LOVEJOY 1932 JOURNAL

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