Curating the collection of two New Yorker magazine writers in the 1930s
About the Writers
Helen and Charles Cooke (my paternal grandparents) were two young, New York writers when they met sometime in the late 1920s.
Helen was working as a writer, or personal secretary, or possibly both, for Lowell Thomas, starting in May 1929. Thomas would become among the most influential journalists and travelers on the planet and among Helen’s duties were taking notes in the presence of a cannibal.
Charles would join the staff of The New Yorker magazine in May 1930 and continue until joining the Army Air Force during World War 2.
By 1933, they were married with a Kerry Blue Terrier, Seán (pronounced “Shawn”), and a busy life. Both were on The New Yorker‘s staff at what today would be considered a hectic startup. Their work resulted in their acquaintance with many prominent individuals they called friends.
Collection Provenance
I came to care for their writing collection by luck or tragedy, depending on your perspective. That this collection has survived is a miracle to me.
First, Helen and Charles divorced around 1955. The reasons for it are unclear. He married and divorced a Japanese woman whose identity is even more murky, before marrying his last wife Anne Kirk. Why Helen kept his World War 2 love letters and other early writings and correspondence is a mystery I’ll probably never solve.
The second miracle occurred after she died in 1985. I remember emptying her house in Arlington, Virginia. I wasn’t ready to relinquish her life or my childhood summer memories. I begged Dad to let me move in, defer starting college at The Ohio State University, so that we could take our time, I could take my time, going through things. He refused insisting that Helen would have wanted me to start college. I’m not so sure.
My siblings and I found what Dad and Arlene decided to save after the sudden deaths of our parents in 2018. A few boxes had been stored in a relatively dry outbuilding on Dad and Arlene’s 5-acre property in southern Ohio. But the letters and other bins had been stored in a barn that we were surprised was still standing. Half the roof was gone, two sides were completely open, and it leaned. My siblings stored several boxes and bins and a few other items for me in a (thankfully) temperature controlled storage unit, while I returned to work in the IT industry.
2021 – Unpacking Everything on YouTube
In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, I drove across the country, packed all the boxes, bins, and things into a U-Haul, and drove back to my home in Boulder, Colorado. In 2021, I unpacked it all. A 30-episode YouTube series, Another Thousand Letters shares some of what I found and the stories and distractions that interested me as I learned about the collection.
In November 2021, I researched at two archives in New York to supplement my understanding of Helen and Charles’ writing lives. At the Lowell Thomas Special Collection at Marist College and the New York Public Library’s New Yorker Special Collection, the archives’ organization inspired me.
2022 – Exploring the 700+ World War 2 Letters
In 2022, I organized the collection using archival systems and materials. I posted several times a week on Instagram. Then, I began focusing on the 700-letter World War 2 collection. When I took breaks, I’d post about trail running, the antics of our border collie, Scout, and backcountry skiing in Colorado.
2024 – Seizures and another work break
In 2022, Scout developed unexplained seizures; we began a two-year quest to give him the highest quality of life possible. I set the letters project aside while I tried to answer unanswerable questions and worked at a new role in the Agriculture industry helping farmers sequester soil organic carbon. I was laid off from my job on March 20, 2024.
Scout died April 10, 2024. The layoff was the the most beautiful gift of time I’ve ever received.