This Week's Picture

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Elizabeth City's W. O. Saunders was a driving force behind
the First Flight Memorial, the "Lost Colony" pageant
and the Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge.
He died in 1940 in an automobile accident.

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This Week's Story

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THE 'INDEPENDENT' MAN

© 2001 James David Pearce

"Elmo," said Clem, "I keep getting into conversations with some of these young people ~ most of 'em just out of college ~ who want to become 'writers' ~ or 'journalists,' you might say.

"Now, you know, I spent most of my time in the 'back shop,' where the pay was a whole lot better, and sometimes I really don't know what to tell them about the ramifications of becoming a 'writer' for the retailed printed page.

"I do try to tell them that if they persist in trying to write for a newspaper, they and their offspring will have a good chance of starving to death. But then they look so disheartened that I always cast around for something else to offer that might put a little spark back into their young lives.

"And there, Elmo, I have a hard time," continued Clem. "I was kinda wondering if there was anything you might say on the subject that I could pass along ~ to help the hopefuls, you might say."

~~~~~~~~~

"Well, Clem," said Elmo, "considering my wide range of knowledge of the field of publication ~ 'writing' included ~ I'm sure I might come up with some bit of wisdom that would be of help in this instance.

"And if you'll just sit quietly and listen," he went on, "and be patient while I put out this pipe full of Prince Albert ~ and quit coughing ~ I'll be glad to tell you everything I know about the subject."

So Clem sat and waited, and Elmo started.

~~~~~~~~~

"Now, you know," said Elmo, "that there are two kinds of 'writing'."

"One is called 'Writing for the Market.' Writing for the market is where you figure out what the reader ~ or the boss ~ wants to read, and then you write that. That kind of writing usually pays fairly well ~ probably more than you could make nailing shingles on houses.

"In that kind of writing, you just stay with the boss and the reader all the way, keeping your own ideas about things to yourself ~ and unwritten.

"The other kind of writing is called 'Creative Writing.' Creative writing is where you figure out what you want to say ~ and you write that. Except in very out-of-the-ordinary circumstances, that kind of writing usually must be done at night, away from the day job that you will have to have to support your family.

"Creative writing sometimes may start with the facts, but will tend to meander a little further down the line toward what the writer feels those facts really ought to be. 'Opinionitis' sets in ~ you might say.

~~~~~~~~~

"We had a writing fellow in North Carolina back in the early 1900s who really was something else. Name was Saunders, I believe. I'll look it up later and give you the initials.

"Now when the past century was just getting under way, Saunders had a good job writing the news for The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot.

"But he was one of that 'creative' breed of writers who wasn't at all satisfied just writing 'Who, What, Where, When, Why or How.'

"He would digress into the 'creative' field ~ and once in a while when his boss wasn't completely sober, some of his digressions would get into print. This at times resulted in some irritated readers ~ and resulted one time too many in an upset boss who happened to be suffering from a hangover ~ a quite prevalent newspaperman's disease of the day around Norfolk.

"Well, North Carolina is pretty close to Virginia ~ just across the state line as a matter of fact ~ so Saunders while on the lam out of Virginia came a few miles south and encountered the little town of Elizabeth City. (It wasn't really a "city," but when they decided on their name, the post office notified them that North Carolina already had an 'Elizabethtown,' so they had to make do.)

"While roaming around the pretty little place on the river, Saunders managed to round up enough money to buy an old print shop. And like his hero, Benjamin Franklin of old, he started printing his very own newspaper.

"He was a pretty smart character. He had a lot of smart friends around the country. He even was a good buddy of H. L. Mencken, a name that I am sure means virtually nothing to most young writers today ~ but one that carried a lot of literary weight in the early 1900s.

"Now Saunders' story already has been told, in much greater depth and in a much better manner than I can tell it," said Elmo. "His son, Keith Saunders, who once worked for The (now defunct) Raleigh Times in this state's capital city, wrote a book about him and had it published in 1962.

"It was produced by Edwards and Broughton Company, printers in Raleigh, and that is a company that doesn't even exist any more ~ so I doubt if you could find that book anywhere now except in some small-town library or somebody's dusty old bookcase. But if you can find it, you will find it well worth reading.

"Since you probably can't, I'll tell you a little about Saunders (W.O. ~ that was his name ~ W.O. Saunders). I'll call this a book 'review,' so to speak, so as not to get sued for violating the copyright.

"Saunders," said Elmo, "being of the kind of nature that he was, decided to call his newspaper 'The Independent.'

"Main reason he did that was when he would be seen walking down the street with a bundle of 'Independents' under his arm, people would look at him and point and say ~ 'Oh, that's The Independent Man!' ~ and let me tell you, W.O. relished that title and that accolade.

"He was strongly in favor of the birth-control movement of the times. Now, if birth control had been enforced in the fashion pressed by its proponents in those days, it probably would have resulted in most people on both sides of the issue today never having been born.

"He even ventured to discuss the pros and cons of various religions ~ a fact guaranteed to stir up more white heat in a small Southern town than you could create with an attempted defamation of General Robert E. Lee.

"I'll just have to tell you of a couple of things he did, even at the risk of being sued for copyright infringement at this late date.

"Some fellow from Georgia was honored in the U.S. Congress around 1928 or so for being 'Father of the Year' because he had been the proud daddy of 27 children.

"This fact upset the Honorable Congressman from N.C., who made haste to inform that body that the honor had gone to the wrong recipient and that a certain Reuben B. of his state had begotten 34 children. Not only that, but the Honorable and his cohorts managed to get Reuben paraded around the country and introduced to the President of the U.S. and to newspapers as the 'Champion Papa of America.'

"Well, W.O. couldn't stand it. He wrote an editorial about it, and here I have to quote Keith Saunders' book, 'The Independent Man' (Library of Congress Catalog Number 62-16359). Such writing needs to be preserved for all time and written as graffiti on journalism school walls all over the nation.

" 'Enough of Reuben B----. A smelly and bewhiskered old peasant from Martin County, (who) has, by the hideous night work of half a century or such . . . begotten 34 children of record. And . . . (our elected officials) . . . parade this procreant bull of the . . . (North Carolina) . . . hinterlands around the country, introducing him to President Coolidge . . .

" 'For what? It is certainly not for the glory of the country, the state, its manhood or its womanhood, that one old man has laid around home for half a century and made a stud record that would provoke only a mirthful hee-haw of contempt from a two-year-old jack---.

" 'Thank God for human monogamy! What a state we would be in if polygamy were tolerated in a land where (people like him) are exalted.'

"Now that," said Elmo, " was real writing, and it was a great example of Saunders' way of combining 'creative' writing with 'writing for the market.'

"Another time, W.O. got into a headline-shouting match with a man he had labeled one of the 'courthouse ring.' His target had some influence over the headlines printed in a rival area news sheet.

"In the exchange, W.O. referred to the fellow in headline type as the 'Braying A-- from Currituck.'

"In return, he was called an old 'buzzard.'

"This exchange wound up in court, via suit and counter-suit.

"When the judge stopped laughing, he ruled that both parties had committed libel. He ordered them both to print retractions, and to make sure they did, he put them both under a peace bond.

"W.O. went straight back to his printing press.

" 'W----- C----- IS NOT A BRAYING A--,' the first in the series of big headlines said. 'The Editor of The Independent is Not A Buzzard,' it continued. 'Libel Suits Dismissed.'

"And so," said Elmo, "the twin arts of 'creative' and 'market writing' flourished at their apex in Elizabeth City ~ until 1938 when hard times cooled the lead in Saunders' typesetting machinery for the last time."

~~~~~~~~~

"The very minute W.O. started publishing," said Elmo, "he started trying to combine his creative thoughts with other regular news intended for the retail print market. And it resulted in fairly serious problems off and on during the heyday of his 'Independent.'

"The problems included visits to his home (with his frightened family huddled inside) by would-be lynching parties, and several assaults on him from ambush, by a person or persons unknown.

"He was the recipient of several pellets delivered from the business end of a shotgun, and was once scheduled to be the guest of honor at an event where a large crowd had assembled with several buckets of hot tar and a number of bags full of feathers.

"He was sued for libel 50 or 60 times."

~~~~~~~~~

"That," said Clem, "is really some story about the rewards of the writing craft.

"But what in there can I find that would provide sustenance to shore up sagging aspirations of young journalists ~ or writers?

"Truth be told," said Elmo, "there is nothing of that sort there. If your young friends want to write, just tell them that to begin with they will have to decide what they want to write ~ 'creative' or 'market.' Tell them a combination won't work.

"If they pick 'creative,' tell them to learn one of the trades to go along with it. Maybe fixing automobiles or something. Nowadays, putting blown brains back into computers might hold some promise.

"But, take it from me and take it from W.O.," went on Elmo.

"If you choose to write 'creative,' be careful where you put it.

"Keep it away from where lawyers and lynch parties might see it.

"Most of what you write for 'the market' will turn to dust in the grave with you ~ most of what you write for 'creative' reasons will certainly help to put you there, along with your printing press."

~~~

"Elmo," said Clem, "I wonder what W.O. might have been able to do with the internet."