Shelby Foote wrote Civil War history

Shelby Foote

It is the birthday of historian and novelist Shelby Foote (1916), who wrote the three-volume history The Civil War: A Narrative (1958-1974), a 1.2-million word study of the war. Foote became widely known after he appeared in Ken Burns' PBS documentary The Civil War (1990).

Foote came to write the Civil War histories at the invitation of Random House's Bennett Cerf after his detailed historical novel Shiloh: A Novel (1952) was published. Foote's accuracy and detailed description of the war's bloodiest battle had impressed Cerf, who wanted him to write a 200,000-word narrative history.

Foote researched the project for several weeks and concluded that it couldn't be properly done as requested. It would take much more time and effort. He proposed a three-volume project and Cerf agreed. During the 20 years of research and writing, Foote supported himself with Guggenheim Fellowships, Ford Foundation grants and loans from his friend, writer Walker Percy.

The project became a detailed military history, though it also briefly considers political and social themes. The first volume Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958) covers the battles of Perryville, Bull Run, Shiloh, Second Bull Run, Antietam and a lot of smaller conflicts. It also includes the battle of the Monitor and Merrimac.

The second volume, Fredericksburg to Meridian (1963), covers the great battles and the efforts of General Robert E. Lee, Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, and General Stonewall Jackson.

It took Foote 10 years to finally complete the third volume. Current events occupied his attention and he wasn't able to focus on the book. The third volume took as many years to complete as the other two combined. Red River to Appomattox (1974) covers the last two great battles, General Ulysses S. Grant against Lee and General William Sherman's March to the Sea. It also deals with Abraham Lincoln's assassination and Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

At first, Ken Burns had Foote's work on his reading list as he prepared his documentary but hadn't planned to interview him. However, Burns received a phone call from Robert Penn Warren suggesting he meet Foote.  After an initial filmed interview in 1986, Foote emerged as a leading consultant on the project. In the end, Foote appeared in the documentary for nearly an hour of the 11-hour series, more than any other authority. The result was a huge increase in sales of Foote's three-volume series. In fact, every time the documentary was rebroadcast on PBS, sales went up.

Foote told Ken Burns: "You've made me a millionaire."

Faith Baldwin wrote romance novels

Faith Baldwin

It is the birthday of Faith Baldwin (1893), who was among the highest paid women writers in the country at the height of her popularity in the 1930s. Her romance novels and fiction were never literary masterpieces but they were popular among working women who enjoyed reading about her wealthy, glamorous characters.

She began writing serials for women's magazines, and published her first novel, Mavis of Green Hill, in 1920. In Baldwin's books, a reader will not find sex, poverty, depravity or evil. It doesn't matter what obstacles they face, the hero and the heroine always find happiness together at the end. Goodness and honor always triumph. It was a highly simplified version of life among the rich that especially appealed to the working girl and the housewife.

In 1936, Baldwin published three books that had earlier been serialized in magazines, along with five new magazine serials. The same year four of her novels were adapted for film. She made more than $315,000 that year.

For seven years, Baldwin also wrote a column called "The Open Door" for Women's Day magazine. She also served as host for Faith Baldwin Romance Theater, a weekly Saturday afternoon anthology series on ABC television.

When Random House publisher Bennett Cerf decided to start the Famous Writers School in the 1960s, he asked Baldwin to be one of the dozen "guiding faculty members," which also included Bruce Catton, Max Shulman, Red Smith, and Rod Serling. It was a heavily advertised correspondence school that returned its "faculty" stockholders handsome dividends at its height of $48 million a year in revenue. The school's fortunes subsided when it was revealed that a staff of 50 (none of them teachers) graded the assignments, not the famous writers themselves.

Baldwin continued to write until she died in 1978. Her last published novel was Adam's Eden (1977). She produced some 100 novels, among them Those Difficult Years (1925), The Office Wife (1930), Babs and Mary Lou (1931), District Nurse (1932), Manhattan Nights (1937), and He Married a Doctor (1944).