putterings       456   <   457   >   458       index

with puttering, intrusive ways
 

      “Well, an’ it teases you more,” observed Silas Turner, with a contortive wink at Jim. He was a small, middle-aged man, with a spread-open, friendly mouth, with legs always bent a little at the knees, and with puttering, intrusive ways. “Blimme if Jim ain’t got a champeen right in his own family. Wish my gals would rally round when the wife busts into a brainstorm!”

ex Valma Clark. Their Own Country (1934) : 91
Ohio State U copy/scan (via hathitrust) : link

—

critically and informatively reviewed, among several other “recent works of fiction,” in the New York Times (September 23, 1934) : link   (paywall)

The passage above doesn’t hint at the expressive and emotional intensity of this novel, the story of a young poet (Abby Winslow) and her adoptive father (Jim Thorpe). Her growing poetic strength, and failing physical health, brings Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914) to mind; see the latter’s poetry foundation profile : link; and her collection Verse (1914) : link

a random line —
      Abby, with the old skill at receiving code messages from him caught it — and reassured him by obviously not minding.
p 187
 

Valma Clark (1894-1953)

some information via Tellers of Weird Tales (October 28, 2014) : link
much of it sourced from an In Memoriam page in the University of Rochester Alumnae/Alumni Review 15:2 (February 1954) : 31 : link (pdf, scroll or search down)

Several (23 as of 20240808) items appear in a search for Valma Clark in archive.org metadata : link
and rather more (167) in text : link
 

8 August 2024