BUDD SCHULBERG - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 09/14/1987 - HFSID 86053

BUDD SCHULBERG
Oscar-winning writer Budd Schulberg signed this letter, typed on his personalized stationery, to the grandmother of a fellow author in 1987, giving her some advice on book publishing.
Typed letter signed "Budd Schulberg". 1 page, 8½x11, one Schulberg's personalized stationery. Sept. 14, 1987. Addressed to Mrs. Florence Hennessy, Woodhaven, New York. In full: "Dear Mrs. Hennessy, thank you for your letter regarding my Newsday piece on What Makes Sammy Run? The questions you ask me about your grandson are difficult ones. Before you consider a Vanity Press which will publish your grandson's book at a cost to you, I would look into some of the non-commercial presses, such as the Pushcart Press. I believe there was an article in the N.Y. Times Book Review recently about non-commercial publishers. If your grandson's book has geniune [sic] literary quality, one of the non-commercial, off-beat presses might be interested in it. I realize that it is more and more difficult for new writers to get started, as conglomerates take over the old publishing houses and are increasingly business-minded. I hope this suggestion will be helpful to your grandson and I wish him well. With all good wishes, Sincerely, Budd Schulberg". Schulberg (1914-2009), born Budd Wilson Schulberg, had co-founded the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center in New York City in 1971. In the mid-1960s, following the riots in the Watts section of Los Angeles, he had also helped found the Watts Writers Workshop. The son of Hollywood movie producer Benjamin Schulberg, the author began his writing career as a publicist for Paramount at age 17, became a screenwriter at the age of 19 and wrote a scathing, satirical exposé of the film industry in his first novel, What Makes Sammy Run? (1941). Schulberg, who won an Academy Award for his screenplay for the Academy Award-winning film, On The Waterfront (1954) also wrote the screenplays for A Star is Born (1937), Nothing Sacred (1937), Little Orphan Annie (1938), Winter Carnival (1939, based on his story), A Face in the Crowd (1957, based on his story) and Wind Across the Everglades (1958, based on his story), and was the author of The Harder They Fall (book, 1947; film, 1956). A life-long fan of boxing, Schulberg, who compiled some of his fight stories in Sparring With Hemingway and The Hardest Games, is the only non-boxer honored as a "Living Legend of Boxing" by the World Boxing Association. Lightly creased. Folded twice and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.