Katharine S. White (1892–1977)
Author of Onward and Upward in the Garden
About the Author
Katharine S. White (1896-1977) was fiction editor at The New Yorker from 1925 to 1959. She and her husband, E. B. White, lived in New York City and North Brooklin, Maine
Image credit: White Literary LLC
Works by Katharine S. White
Two Gardeners: Katherine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence, A Friendship in Letters (2002) 165 copies, 5 reviews
Crawe 1 copy
Associated Works
Sisters of the Earth: Women's Prose and Poetry About Nature (1991) — Contributor — 443 copies, 5 reviews
My Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants They Love (1998) — Contributor — 100 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- White, Katharine S.
- Other names
- White, Katharine Sergeant Angell
White, Katharine - Birthdate
- 1892-09-17
- Date of death
- 1977-07-20
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Bryn Mawr College
- Occupations
- editor
columnist
writer - Organizations
- The New Yorker (fiction editor and columnist)
- Relationships
- White, E.B. (husband)
Angell, Roger (son)
Angell, Ernest (husband) - Short biography
- Born into an upper-class family in Massachusetts, Katharine Sergeant attended Miss Winsor's school in Boston and Bryn Mawr College. She married Ernest Angell in 1914; the couple were divorced in 1929 and she married E.B. White. In 1925, she became the first fiction editor at the fledgling publication The New Yorker and helped create its distinctive style and format. She was described as an extremely literate, elegant, and cultivated woman. James Thurber called her "the fountain and shrine of The New Yorker." She was credited with discovering the talents of many 20th century American writers. Her only book was published under the name Katharine S. White.
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Winchester, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- North Brooklin, Maine, USA
New York, New York, USA - Place of death
- Blue Hill, Maine, USA
- Burial location
- Brooklin Cemetery, Brooklin, Hancock County, Maine, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Maine, USA
Members
Reviews
This gardening book is a compilation of articles originally written as a column for The New Yorker magazine. It took me by surprise. The individual essays are not actually about gardening per se, but are for the most part, reviews of seed catalogs. I have done this once myself, so I was a bit intrigued. It turns out Mrs. White is quite opinionated about gardening and the development of new plant varieties- especially how showier flowers and bigger produce seem to be all the seedsmen are show more aiming for- at least that was her take on it. She disparages a lot of trends in the seed catalogs, which makes for some amusing reading. Here and there she mentions her own experiences with certain plants, which were the parts I really enjoyed. She doesn't just talk about plants, though. She criticizes (or praises where it was merited) the paper quality, choice of typography and clarity of photos in the seed catalogs. Later in the book are a few reviews of different types of publications regarding plants- field guides to wildflowers and oversized gardening books meant to be decorative (I call them "coffee table" books). I admit I was totally uninterested in the two chapters about books on formal flower arranging, styles in flower arrangement, and flower shows. I kind of skimmed through that. I puzzled a bit at how often she made a point of telling which supplier had what particular variety of a species, until I recalled the publication date: there was no internet back then. You couldn't just do a search and find where to buy the rose your grandmother used to grow or anything. So of course she made notes on which seeds suppliers grew, developed and sold what particular strains of plants. Specializing in roses, or azaleas, or herbs, etc. Helpfully, in the back of the book is a listing of all the catalogs and suppliers mentioned, with brief notes if they are still in business or have changed their focus. Only the last two chapters review gardening books of the kind I like to read- and here I did note down a few titles that sound particularly good. And on a different note, the introduction is written by her husband, a lovely portrait of Mrs. White and some of her gardening habits.
from the Dogear Diary show less
from the Dogear Diary show less
A compilation of Katharine S. White's essays on gardening, collected into a single volume after her death and published with a gem of an introduction by her husband, one E.B. White. Who, other than Katharine White, would have thought to review seed and flower catalogs for The New Yorker? Her lively, opinionated prose makes for wonderfully enjoyable reading, even if the annual reviews which make up the first part of the book do get ever-so-slightly repetitive. The more thematic essays in the show more second half (on roses, house plants, winter gardening, and on horticultural books generally) are excellent.
Utterly charming from start to finish, and the introduction is worth a read all on its own. show less
Utterly charming from start to finish, and the introduction is worth a read all on its own. show less
A collection of articles Katherine S. White wrote for the New Yorker in the 1950s and 1960s. Most are reviews of seed catalogs, while the end chapters focus on reviews of nature and garden books being published at that time. If you like to read about gardens and flowers, reader beware. This is FULL of books you will want to look at and read, and with the ease of the internet now, it is all to easy to find yourself clicking away and ordering books mentioned here. I bought two. I count myself show more restrained.
White has a straightforward way of discussing both the good and the bad in the garden books. She doesn't hesitate to tell you her preferences and opinions in flower arrangement and garden blooms. At the same time, I felt as though I were sitting with my grandmother discussing the various seed catalogs and possibilities for the garden. She is both charming and literary, well spoken and firm in her ideas. She weaves in history, lore and childhood memories in the most natural way.
At the end of the book, there is a large section with seed and plant nurseries which were still operating at the time of this publication, 1979. There is also an introduction by E. B. White. Very charming line drawings of plants and flowers at the beginning and end of each chapter of the book. show less
White has a straightforward way of discussing both the good and the bad in the garden books. She doesn't hesitate to tell you her preferences and opinions in flower arrangement and garden blooms. At the same time, I felt as though I were sitting with my grandmother discussing the various seed catalogs and possibilities for the garden. She is both charming and literary, well spoken and firm in her ideas. She weaves in history, lore and childhood memories in the most natural way.
At the end of the book, there is a large section with seed and plant nurseries which were still operating at the time of this publication, 1979. There is also an introduction by E. B. White. Very charming line drawings of plants and flowers at the beginning and end of each chapter of the book. show less
Two Gardeners: Katharine S. White & Elizabeth Lawrence--A Friendship in Letters by Emily Herring Wilson
(This review was originally written for The Garden Bloggers' Book Club)
I finished Two Gardeners: Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence - A Friendship in Letters last night. I was enthralled and deeply moved by this book. Enthralled, because reading their letters was akin to reading modern day garden blogs. I was deeply moved by their deaths because I felt by the end of the book that I knew them.
Their letters also brought back a lot of memories for me. My maternal grandmother was a few show more years older than Katharine White. Unlike many women of her time, she married late in life and had my mother when she was close to 40. When I knew her, she had retired and was living in an apartment. I loved accompanying her when she went "visiting". Part of those visits involved tours of her friends' gardens. Gardens that looked very much like the photos and descriptions of Katharine's and Elizabeth's gardens. Their letters sounded eerily like the conversations during those visits.
The descriptions of the flower shows made me laugh! I remember shows like those derided in their letters. My poor mother tried and tried to learn flower arranging. Books, classes, garden club lectures, nothing helped. She finally settled on just entering specimen plants and flowers. I should add that she won several prizes in local shows. And that I inherited her inability to arrange flowers in an attractive manner. show less
I finished Two Gardeners: Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence - A Friendship in Letters last night. I was enthralled and deeply moved by this book. Enthralled, because reading their letters was akin to reading modern day garden blogs. I was deeply moved by their deaths because I felt by the end of the book that I knew them.
Their letters also brought back a lot of memories for me. My maternal grandmother was a few show more years older than Katharine White. Unlike many women of her time, she married late in life and had my mother when she was close to 40. When I knew her, she had retired and was living in an apartment. I loved accompanying her when she went "visiting". Part of those visits involved tours of her friends' gardens. Gardens that looked very much like the photos and descriptions of Katharine's and Elizabeth's gardens. Their letters sounded eerily like the conversations during those visits.
The descriptions of the flower shows made me laugh! I remember shows like those derided in their letters. My poor mother tried and tried to learn flower arranging. Books, classes, garden club lectures, nothing helped. She finally settled on just entering specimen plants and flowers. I should add that she won several prizes in local shows. And that I inherited her inability to arrange flowers in an attractive manner. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 4
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 1,002
- Popularity
- #25,740
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 17
- ISBNs
- 10
- Favorited
- 1