E.B. White’s Magnus Opus
July 11, 2023
An update to a Tuesday Newsday Classic from 2017
“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte, “That in itself is a tremendous thing.”
It is rare to find a writer whose impact on both children and adults is so impactful, but E.B. White – who was born on July 11, 1899 – was such a writer.
For a writer there is no more monumental handbook than “Elements of Style.” Its dog-eared pages a testament to any author’s quest to use punctuation and grammar correctly. The book was first published in 1918 by William Strunk, Jr. It was in 1959 when it was revised and enlarged by White and now bore both contributors’ names. When a question arises as to ‘how’ to write something correctly, most writer’s will say, colloquially, ‘what does Strunk and White say?’
White spent his life as a writer, the bulk of that on staff with “The New Yorker” magazine. It was when he turned to the writing of children’s literature and, especially, with the publication of Charlotte’s Web, that he became a household name.
According to the Infallible Wikipedia:
“White’s editor Ursula Nordstrom said that one day, in 1952, E. B. White handed her a new manuscript, the only version of Charlotte’s Web then in existence, which she read soon after and enjoyed. Charlotte’s Web was published three years after White began writing it. (snip)
Written in White’s dry, low-key manner, Charlotte’s Web is considered a classic of children’s literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. The description of the experience of swinging on a rope swing at the farm is an often cited example of rhythm in writing, as the pace of the sentences reflects the motion of the swing. In 2000, Publishers Weekly listed the book as the best-selling children’s paperback of all time.”
The book, at one time, was one of the most widely read books by elementary aged children. Somewhere in a dusty box in my parent’s basement is a copy of this wonderful book. A book which I read over and over again, falling in love with a pig named Wilbur and his friend, the spider Charlotte.
The above paragraph is what I wrote when this article was posted on my Blog on July 11, 2017. Two years later, in August of 2019, I did find that copy of Charlotte’s Web and brought it to my house. When I pulled it from the shelf to update this article, I was struck by its appearance. The paper cover was far more dog-eared than I recalled and also bore a couple of crayon marks courtesy of me, no doubt.
But then I opened the book and there on the first page I was treated to this gem of an inscription: ‘From Gramma For All the DeVore’s’ and our names are listed: ‘Janie, Susan, Peter, and Mike to read it aloud.’
Based on that information I know that the book arrived in my family’s home during the years our family lived in Clarkston, Washington. We were there from late 1958 until the summer of 1961. I was called Janie – my middle name being Jane – during those years as there was an older girl in the neighborhood named Barbara. I’m guessing I was about two at the time which made my siblings four, six, and eleven.
But the real story of “Charlotte’s Web” is that it addresses the topic of life and death in a way that made it personal and real for children. We experience grief right along with Wilbur as he learns that his beloved Charlotte is nearing the end. White summed it up in this moving paragraph following Charlotte’s demise:
“Wilbur thought often of Charlotte. A few strands of her old web still hung in the doorway. Every day Wilbur would stand and look at the torn, empty web, and a lump would come to his throat. No one had ever had such a friend – so affectionate, so loyal, and so skillful.”
White handled the topic with gentleness for his young readers, giving us all a great lesson: to love and appreciate those we call family and friends for every day we have with them. And when the day arrives when we have to say goodbye we know that their impact on us and on others was real and meaningful.
In a five day span the last week of June/first week of July I lost not one, but two, such friends. The grief is still raw and palpable. So give out hugs freely, always speak words of kindness, and remember, to love one another.
The links:
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/987048-charlotte-s-web
barbaradevore.com 