The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter is published twice a year under the auspices of the Publications Unit of the English Department at Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4240. Each issue of the The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter includes scholarly essays on Lewis’s writings, mentions of Lewis in the news and in scholarship, and news of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, Lewis’s hometown. There are occasional features on how to teach Lewis’s works and news for book collectors, as well as calls for papers. Departments in most issues include Sinclair Lewis Miscellany, It Can’t Happen Here News, Inquiring Minds (queries received), Book Notes, and What Were They Reading Then? —short essays about books popular when Lewis was writing.
For more information, visit The Sinclair Lewis Society website.
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Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 20, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Vermont, 1942: The Summer of Idealism: Dorothy Thompson, The Land Corps, and Its Legacy,” by Tom Raynor
“The Federal Theater Project: It Did Happen Here,” by William Severini Kowinski
“MacKinlay Kantor and Sinclair Lewis: Parallel Lives,” by Ted Fleener, Waterloo Community Schools, Waterloo, Iowa
“Alumni House at St. Cloud State Renamed Lewis House”
“Dangerous Women”: Rev. of Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson: New Women in Search of Love and Power by Sally Hertog, by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“Dangerous Comments”: Rev. of Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson: New Women in Search of Love and Power by Sally Hertog, by Charles Pankenier
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Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 20, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Lancelot Todd: A Case for Fictional Independence,” by Samuel J. Rogal, Illinois Valley Community College
“‘Another Perfect Day’: Weather, Mood, and Landscape in Sinclair Lewis’s Minnesota Diary,” by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
“American Expatriates in Interwar Europe: Sinclair Lewis’s Dodsworth,” by Bernhard Wenzl, Institute of Science and Technology, Vienna, Austria
“‘What If?’: The Second Life of John Wilkes Booth,” rev. of Barnaby, Conrad, The Second Life of John Wilkes Booth by Ted Fleener, Waterloo Community Schools, Waterloo, Iowa
“An Appreciation of Free Air,” by Levi Stahl, University of Chicago
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Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 19, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Mark Nolan and Cass Timberlane,” by Susan K. O’Brien
“Arrowsmith: The People Behind the Characters,” by Jan Peter Verhave, Van Raalte Institute, Hope College
“Sinclair Lewis’s Early Newspaper Career,” by Gary H. Mayer, Stephen F. Austin State University
Second Chances,” rev. of The Second Life of John Wilkes Booth by Barnaby Conrad, by Gary H. Mayer, Stephen F. Austin State University
“Habeas Corpus,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 6
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Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 19, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“2010 Sinclair Lewis Conference A Great Success,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“‘Carol Kennicott’s Story: Main Street,” by James M. Hutchisson, The Citadel
“Dodsworth Perfomed in New York”
“Ida Compton Papers Archived,” by Tom Steman, St. Cloud State University
“Lewis’s Voice on CD,” by George Killough, College of St. Scholastica
“St. Cloud State University and Minnesota Reflections Website to Publish Collection of Letters by Sinclair Lewis to Marcella Powers,” by Michael King, St. Cloud State University
“Reflections on Kingsblood,” by D. J. Jones
“Barnaby Conrad Writes New Novel”
“Habeas Corpus,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 5
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Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 18, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Sinclair Lewis Conference 2010: Celebrating Lewis in the 21st Century”
“‘I really have no interest in the Indian’: Sinclair Lewis Visits New Mexico in 1926,” by Gary Scharnhorst, University of New Mexico
“Sinclair Lewis Inducted into the Minnesota Writers Hall of Fame Class of 2009”
“Return to Zenith,” reviews of Zenith Rising, by Michael Goodell
“Aimee Semple McPherson’s Life Becomes a Musical”
“Lewis in Fiction Writers on Fiction Writing“
“Habeas Corpus,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 4
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Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 18, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“A Message for ‘a Burning World’: Dorothy Thompson, Sinclair Lewis, and It Can’t Happen Here,” by Tom Raynor
“The Man from Main Street: Bringing Sinclair Lewis into the 21st Century,” by Thomas Steman, St. Cloud State University
“Another Take on Babbitt’s Mysterious Inscription,” by Michael McKay
“Upton Sinclair Rises Again!,” rev. of U.S.! by Chris Bachelder, by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“Habeas Corpus,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 3
“What Were the Other Best-Sellers?,” Merton of the Movies by Harry Leon Wilson (1922)
“The Opera of Elmer Gantry to Have Midwest Premiere”
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 17, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Bowling Alone and Sinclair Lewis: A Teaching Experiment in a First-Year Program,” by George Killough, College of St. Scholastica
“Ghosts in the Palmer House?,” by Rebecca Webb (reprinted from Senior Perspective)
“Habeas Corpus,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 2
“‘Just suppose I encouraged some boy and he became a great artist’: The Aspirations of Carol Kennicott and the Realizations of Lilian Steichen,” by Ron McCutchan, Illinois State University
“Three-Volume Collection of Lewis Characters Published”
“When Main Street Comes to a Dead End,” by Roger K. Miller
“Wells Lewis on YouTube,” by George Killough, College of St. Scholastica
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 17, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“The Other Lewis: Fred Kermott Lewis,” by Ted Fleener
“Impossible Ici: Raymond Queneau’s Translation of It Can’t Happen Here,” by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
“Habeas Corpus,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 1
“The Opera of Elmer Gantry“
“Lewis and the 150 Best Minnesota Books,” by Patrick Coleman, Minnesota Historical Society
“It Can’t Happen Here and A Cool Million,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 16, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Seven-Volume Collection of Lewis Short Stories Published,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University (includes interview with editor Samuel J. Rogal)
“The Cross, The Flag, and the Presidential Elections”
“Elmer Gantry Sings Again”
“St. Cloud State University Receives Gift of the Manuscripts for Sinclair Lewis’s Play The Jayhawker“
“The Sinclair Lewis-Claude Washburn Friendship”
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 16, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“It Can’t Happen Here Wins Libertarian Futurist Award”
“Sinclair Lewis and Ida K. Compton Conference”
“A Citizen of the Mirage,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 4 “
‘A novel filled with jackasses and jackals’: Animal Imagery in Elmer Gantry,” by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
“The Tragedy of Martin Arrowsmith: A Physician’s Perspective,” by Russell Gollard, M.D.
“Parts of Lewis’s Library for Sale”
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Claude Lewis and the Lewis Family Plot in St. Cloud,” by Ted Fleener
“Narrative of the Life of Doremus Jessup: Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here and the Influence of Slave Narratives,” by Edward Dauterich, Kent State University
“A Citizen of the Mirage,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 3
“Louisiana Politics and It Can’t Happen Here,” by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
“A Study in the Synergy of Giftedness: Sinclair Lewis and the Influence of Medical Research on his Writing” by Michael E. Walters, Center for the Study of Humanities in the Schools
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“The American Village in a Global Setting Conference”
“Babbitt in the Advertising Age,” by Quentin Martin, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
“Strangers: Sinclair Lewis Back on Broadway,” by Robert L. McLaughlin, Illinois State University
“A Citizen of the Mirage,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 2
“A New Stage Production of Babbitt in Southern California,” by Ralph Goldstein
“Babbitt Still Visible in the Big Picture: A Review of Victoria de Grazia’s Irresistible Empire,” by George Killough, College of St. Scholastica
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 14, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Society Sponsors Third Lewis Conference in Sauk Centre,” by Robert L. McLaughlin, Illinois State University
“Erumaa Gantorii,” by Rusty Allred (discussion of Japanese translation of Elmer Gantry)
“The German Translator of It Can’t Happen Here,” by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
“The Lorinda Mystique,” by Mary Krones, Illinois State University (about women in It Can’t Happen Here)
“On a First Name Basis,” by Michael Carroll Dooling (a friendship that Lewis shared with E. Robert Stevenson)
“Clearing the Smoke: Babbitt’s ‘Curious Inscription,'” by Michael Carroll Dooling
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 13, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“The Great American Jewish Nightmare,” by Ralph Goldstein (about Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America)
“Sinclair Lewis and Bret Easton Ellis, ‘He-Man’ to ‘It-Boy’: A Study of Commodity Culture through Generations,” by Paul Vincent McInnes, University of Glasgow, Scotland
“‘A Warrior of the Spirit’: Dorothy Thompson, 1893-1961,” by Thomas P. Raynor
“If George Babbitt Were a Woman,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University, Illinois State University (on the Emma McChesney series by Edna Ferber)
“One View of The God-Seeker,” by Dave Rowe
“The Algonquin: Hotel for Artists and Writers”
“Meeting Sinclair Lewis: First Encounters and Initial Impressions, Part II,” Compiled by Dana Cook
“Love on the Run: Balancing Marriage and Work,” by Thomas P. Raynor (on the marriage of Dorothy Thompson and Sinclair Lewis)
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 14, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Introducing Sinclair Lewis’s Novels to Adults,” by Patrick and Mary Killough
“PR Campaign Cycle Enforces Middle Class Message,” by Laurie Fumea, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
“A Citizen of the Mirage,” by Sinclair Lewis, part 1., Introduction by Todd Stanley
“Sinclair Lewis Conference 2005: A Journal,” by Jacqueline Koenig
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 13, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Memories of the Sinclair Lewis Memorial Service,” by John Kleinschmidt
“Fay Wray, Lewis’s Theatrical Collaborator, Dies”
“Our Literary Diogenes”: rev. of Sinclair Lewis as Reader and Critic by Martin Bucco, by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Abstracts from Sinclair Lewis at the ALA Conference:
“Sinclair Lewis and Americans Abroad,” by Stephen L. Tanner, Brigham Young University
“From the Cultural Margin: Sinclair Lewis’s Quest for Symbolic Goods,” by Madeline Walker, University of Victoria, Canada
“Japanese Adventures with Sinclair Lewis,” by Rusty Allred
“Babbitt’s Mysterious Inscription,” by Ingrid Wilson
“Lewis and the Literary Immortality Polls of 1936 and 1948,” by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
“Meeting Sinclair Lewis: First Encounters and Initial Impressions, Part I” Compiled by Dana Cook
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Grant Wood’s Main Street“
“The Plight of ‘Nhu-Yok’ and ‘Wash-Yn-Tun’: Sinclair Lewis and John Ames Mitchell,” by Martin Bucco, Colorado State University
“The Fountain of Youth: Scandal and Black Oxen” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“Teaching Kingsblood Royal: Student Responses to Issues of Race” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
Student Responses:
“Blackmailed by Love” by Brianne Marshall
“Vestal’s Diary” by Monica Nohren
“Confrontation” by Christy Turner
“Timeline of Race and Literature in America” by Karen Chachere
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 12, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Main Street at the Great American History Theatre in St. Paul: A Review,” by George Killough, College of St. Scholastica
“Main Street Revisited,” by Robert L. McLaughlin, Illinois State University
“Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on Sinclair Lewis: Glimpses Too Brief,” by Rodger L. Tarr, Illinois State University
“The Lewis-Hemingway Connection-Again,” by Martin Bucco, Colorado State University
“More on the Thoreau Connection,” by George Killough, College of St. Scholastica
“Main Street Invites Interpretations: Theater Review,” by Carolyn Petrie, St. Paul Pioneer Press
“Lewis as Pornography,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 11, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Interview with Richard Lingeman,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“Lewis Catches Flivver Fever: Author Enjoyed the Early Motoring Days,” by Dave Simpkins, Sauk Centre Herald
“Arrowsmith in Japanese,” by Rusty Allred
“Lewis, London-and Hemingway?,” by Robert E. Fleming, University of New Mexico
“Edith Wharton in Sinclair Lewis,” by Martin Bucco, Colorado State University
“The Art of the Literary Feud,” rev. of Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels-From Mark Twain to Tom Wolfe by Anthony Arthur; by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“Hemingway Read Some Lewis,” by Hilary Justice, Illinois State University
“Enlightened on Lewis,” by Dave Simpkins, Sauk Centre Herald
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 11, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, and the ‘Bo-Teaser,'” by Jerry Leath Mills, Colby-Sawyer College
“My Love Affair with Sinclair Lewis,” by Lisa Napoli
“Roundup of Reviews of Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street, Part II”
“Mr. Hardy and Mr. Lewis,” by Martin Bucco, Colorado State University
“Literary Style in Lingeman’s Lewis Biography, Rebel from Main Street,” by Frederick Betz, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
“A Model for Elmer Gantry?: New Biography of William Stidger is Published”
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Summaries of Reviews of Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street by Richard Lingeman”
“‘He Really Cared’: A Review of Rebel from Main Street,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“Teaching Main Street: What Happens after the Novel Ends?,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“It Can’t Happen Here as a Poem,” by Pamela Troy (with permission from the Democratic Underground)
Elmer Gantry 75th Anniversary Centerfold
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 10, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“The Education of the Eye,” Review of Minnesota Diary, 1942-1946 by Sinclair Lewis, ed. by George Killough, by Roger Forseth, University of Wisconsin-Superior
“Two Notes to a Low, Dishonest Decade: Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here and Saul Bellow’s ‘The Hell It Can’t,'” by Roger Forseth, University of Wisconsin-Superior
“Poe in Lewis,” by Martin Bucco, Colorado State University
“Standardization and Conformity: A Critical Study of Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt,” by Lucy Zhang, Yangzhou University, China
“The Mice: Lewis Story Becomes a Musical”
“The Woolworth Connection: Sinclair Lewis, C.S. Lewis, and John Updike,” by Kathryn Lindskoog
“Lewis’s Grandson Writes a Novel”
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Delicate Fellows and Fugitives from Rage,” by Ralph Goldstein, California State University-Los Angeles
“Writers at Work: A Visit with Barnaby Conrad,” by Brooke Hessler, Texas Christian University
“Huh: Knowledge, Truth, and Reading against the Text in Arrowsmith,” by Robert L. McLaughlin, Illinois State University
“Minnesota Diary is Published”
“Modern Library to Reprint Kingsblood Royal“
“Sinclair Lewis and the Book,” by Martin Bucco, Colorado State University
“Lewis and Claude Washburn,” by John L. Washburn
“Sketching Utopia: Three Reviews” by Peter Paulino, Richard Lingeman, and Clare Eby
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 9, No. 1
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Successful Sinclair Lewis Conference 2000”
“Sinclair Lewis Conference 2000: A Journal,” by Jacqueline Koenig
“Pickerbaugh Was a Genius!,” by Marcia K. Buchs, Illinois State University
“Teaching Arrowsmith” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“Sherlock Holmes Meets Sinclair Lewis,” by Martin Bucco, Colorado State University
“Sinclair Takes Tea,” by Nancy Potter Woodson
“Arrowsmith and Modern Medicine”
“Sinclair Lewis and George Seldes,” by Mitch Freedman
“Sinclair Lewis Sings”
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The Sinclair Lewis Society Newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 2
The Sinclair Lewis Society
“Making the World a Better Place: Lewis’s Advice to a Teacher”
“Fascists in America: Gender and Dystopia in It Can’t Happen Here and The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Sally E. Parry, Illinois State University
“The Nation Reprints Lewis Essays”
“Lewis Session at ALA Focuses on Middle-Class Life, Awards, and Bibliography”
Abstracts of the Sinclair Lewis Panel at 2000 ALA
“‘Snoway Talkcher Father’: The Construction of the Suburban Family in Babbitt,” by M. Ellen Dupree, University of Nevada-Reno
“A Plea for a Bibliography of Sinclair Lewis,” by James Lorson, Lorson’s Books and Prints
“Delicate Fellows and Fugitives from Rage: The American Nobel Laureate,” by Ralph Goldstein