The World She Edited: Part One

As a longtime reader of The New Yorker, I was thrilled to learn about the recent release of The World She Edited by Amy Reading. The book is a deeply researched and gorgeously written biography of the magazine’s storied editor, Katharine Sergeant Angell White.

During her thirty-six-year tenure, White was an indispensable asset to the magazine, transforming it from a barely nascent idea into a prestigious literary powerhouse. She became internationally renowned as a singular force in twentieth-century American literature and as a trailblazer who left a profound and lasting impact on the publishing world.

The Early Days

White was born in 1892 to Bess and Charles Sargeant in Winchester, Massachusetts. She was the youngest of three daughters and enjoyed a happy childhood. But White’s world cracked open when her mother suddenly died of appendicitis in 1899. Charles’ sister, White’s Aunt Crullie, promptly stepped in to help the family in Bess’ absence. She became a supportive maternal figure for White, and especially encouraged White’s love of literature.

Education was prized in the Sergeant household. In 1910, White followed her two sisters to Bryn Marr College. She majored in English and Philosophy and was highly engaged in campus life. White served as class secretary, directed The Taming of the Shrew, and became staff editor of Tipyn O’Bob, Bryn Mawr’s literary magazine.

One year after she graduated, White married attorney Ernest Angell. The couple had two children, Nancy (born in 1916) and Roger (born in 1920). As a young mother, White worked in theatre at the Cleveland Play House. Then in the summer of 1925, at the offhand suggestion of a neighbour, she walked into the offices of The New Yorker and bluntly asked its editor-in-chief, Harold Ross, for a job. At the time, the magazine was just six months old and struggling to stay afloat. But Ross was so impressed by White, he hired her on the spot as a parttime manuscript reader.

As she was embarking on a new career, White’s marriage was falling apart. She and Angell divorced in 1929. Several months later, White married the American writer E. B. (“Andy”) White. They had one child named Joe and stayed together until White’s death in 1977.

White was tenacious and had brilliant editorial instincts. This was immediately clear to the writers and colleagues with whom she worked. Eventually, White was promoted to fiction editor. In this role, she left an indelible mark on the publishing landscape and shaped the course of American literature. She edited such prominent writers as Vladimir Nabokov, John O'Hara, Mary McCarthy, John Cheever, John Updike, and Ogden Nash, carefully nurturing their talent and guiding their careers.

A Commitment to Accuracy

Reading’s book is a testament to White’s undeniability as an editor. So much can be gleaned from her life’s work. But of her many notable qualities, two stood out to me: her obsession with accuracy and her ability to cultivate talent. It’s these qualities, which I expound below, that earned White her status as one of the most gifted and successful editors of the last century.

White had an exceptional grasp of the English language and a deep appreciation for its subtleties and nuances. She pored over manuscripts with painstaking attention to detail. Nothing escaped her scrutiny. This skill became apparent in White’s early days at The New Yorker, when she was

tasked with critiquing previous issues. During that time, she was known for her scathing internal memos wherein she identified errors that were especially egregious. Here, for example, is one she wrote to Ross:

In the issue of June 2nd, page 49, last paragraph, in Markey’s “Reporter at Large” piece, you will find this sentence:

“It is not unlikely that when this interest crystalizes a little further into action” etc.

This is an absurd statement, for if there is one thing you cannot do, it is to crystalize anything into action. What Markey meant to say was gallvanize into action, and the makeup room should have caught this point.

As the above comment demonstrates, White had little patience for sloppy inaccurate or ambiguous writing. In another note by White, she questions the presumed location of New York:

Where is New York? The New York Central time tables are in tenths of miles, or less than a car length. At exactly what point in Grand Central Station is this figured from—the ends of the platforms or what? There must be some point which is officially New York.

White was unrelenting in her quest for precision and excellence. Through this commitment to accuracy, she elevated the standard of the magazine and developed a reputation as the consummate eagle-eyed editor.

In the next instalment of this two-part book review, I’ll be discussing White’s remarkable capacity to cultivate talent in writers.