putterings 189 < 190 > 191 index
a man without drive, hoe still in his hands
To Bill, Owen was a man without drive, the relaxed savant, the philosopher, the bookworm on whom the struggle for existence made little impact. After a long day in the hard-bitten world of his manufacturing business Bill would drive past the Pollett house and wave to Owen puttering in the garden. Before the pre-dinner bootleg whisky eased his tension, sometimes he would think that Owen’s way of life was the right one and that he, Bill, was a fool to punish himself for the money. Later he would laugh at himself. Business was his existence, and he could not be happy without it. He had one way of life, and Owen had another.
ex J. Harvey Howells, The Big Company Look (1958) : 44 : link (borrowable, at archive.org)
on d.j., “A novel of the hidden terror in big business.”
and from the Ace Giant (G-375) paperback, “complete and unabridged,” this interior blurb from the Boston Herald —
“...the story of the major role played by terror in today’s business world. With surgical skill and knowledge, Howells slices away the slough of cordiality, manners, good-fellowship, and false friendships, and exposes what often lies beneath — jealousy, even hatred.”
—
a few pages later, son Jackson up in Maine (with Bill and his son Dick), Owen is out weeding, and having caught a glimpse of a Baltimore oriole, delays coming in for supper —
“She waited ten minutes, then in mild exasperation went outside to drive him in from his beloved garden. He was lying on his face among the young tomato plants, the hoe still in his hands. Owen, the relaxed, carefree man who should have lived forever, was dead at thirty-eight of coronary thrombosis.”
46-47
J. Harvey Howells (1912-1983)
...a Scottsman with impressive advertising credentials.
Harvey Howells moved from the advertising department of Procter & Gamble to Standard Brands, and then to Lever Bros. where he was advertising manager. Since resigning in 1955 he has collected an imposing list of literary credits including a novel, The Big Company Look, and a number of TV programs including one network series, Ichabod and Me....
— Broadcasting (May 24, 1965) : 24 : link (pdf)
LoC lists these
- Robert Montgomery presents the Johnson’s Wax program. The liar / Neptune Productions ; NBC Television presents ; directed by John Newland ; executive producer, Robert Montgomery ; teleplay by J. Harvey Howells.
United States : NBC Television Network, 1957-01-07.
FTA 2330-2331 (mag track) : link - The Big Company Look (1958)
PZ4.H8596 Bi PS3558.O913 : link - Bide me fair, by Harvey Howells.
New York, Simon and Schuster [1968]
PZ4.H8596 Bg PS3558.O913 : link - The braw and the bonny [by] Harvey Howells.
New York, Simon and Schuster [1971]
PZ4.H8596 Br PS3558.O913 : link - Dowsing for everyone : adventures and instruction in the art of modern dowsing / by Harvey Howells ; with drawings by Ingrid Beckman.
Brattleboro, Vt. : S. Greene Press, c1979.
BF1628 .H68 FT MEADE : link - Dowsing : mind over matter / by Harvey Howells.
Brattleboro, Vt. : S. Greene Press, c1982.
BF1628 : link - House of glass, by J. Harvey Howells.
New York, Appleton-Century [1965]
PZ4.H8596 Ho PS3558.O913 : link - Sights and sounds, scents and savors of Maine / Jean and Harvey Howells ; photography by Jim Howells.
Camden, Me. : Down East Magazine, c1978.
F29.B9 H68 : link