"He made a list of authors that floored me, beginning with Sinclair Lewis, William McFee — at that time famous for Casuals of the Sea, Command, Captain Macedoine's Daughter — and Vincent Sheehan and Mignon Eberhardt. Well, those were the plums, and he said, "I don't know if I can get any of them." Well, he got them all--every single one of them! … McFee was quite deaf and like so many deaf people he shrieked at the top of his lungs and had a funny habit — he'd grab you by the ear and scream into your ear. Of course, he couldn't hear. He'd start screaming in Harry Maule's ear and Harry would try to quiet him down. I still remember that we used to fall on the floor laughing at McFee and Harry Maule. What a combination this was. He was a nice man — McFee — an old sea captain. Unfortunately he drifted off and lost his popularity, but he did write three fine books: Casuals of the Sea, Captain Macedoine's Daughter, and Command. I think they're as good as Conrad's Sea Tales."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Novelists from EnglandNovelists from the United StatesShort story writers from the United StatesMemoirists from the United StatesShort story writers from England
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Bennett Cerf on editor Harry Maule and McFee in an interview (10 January 1968) at Columbia University Libraries, Oral History Research Office
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_McFee
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
William McFee
William McFee (15 June 1881 – 2 July 1966) was a British writer.
19 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by William McFee →
Related Quotes
"Steam is the friend of man. Steam engines are very human. Their very weaknesses are understandable. Steam engines do …"
"There are some men whom a staggering emotional shock, so far from making them mental invalids for life, seems, on the…"
"One must choose between Obscurity with Efficiency, and Fame with its inevitable collateral of Bluff. There is a perio…"
"A young man must let his ideas grow, not be continually rooting them up to see how they are getting on."
"To those who live and toil and lowly die, Who past beyond and leave no lasting trace, To those from whom our queen Pr…"
"It is so much easier to tell intimate things in the dark."
"A trouble is a trouble, and the general idea, in the country, is to treat it as such, rather than to snatch the knott…"
"It is extraordinary how many emotional storms one may weather in safety if one is ballasted with ever so little gold."
"The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool."
"If fate means you to lose, give him a good fight anyhow."