Stewart Edward White


Stewart Edward White was an American writer, novelist, and Spiritualist. He was a brother of noted mural painter Gilbert White.

Personal life

White was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Mary E. and Thomas Stewart White, a lumberman. He attended Grand Rapids High School, and earned degrees from University of Michigan.
From about 1900 until about 1922 he wrote fiction and non-fiction about adventure and travel, with an emphasis on natural history and outdoor living. Starting in 1922 he and his wife Elizabeth "Betty" Grant White wrote numerous books, that, according to them, were received through channelling with spirits. They also wrote about their travels around the state of California. White died in Hillsborough, California, on September 18, 1946, at the age of 73.

Writing

White's books were popular at a time when America was losing its vanishing wilderness. He was a keen observer of the beauties of nature and human nature, yet could render them in a plain-spoken style. Based on his own experience, whether writing camping journals or Westerns, he included pithy and fun details about cabin-building, canoeing, logging, gold-hunting, and guns and fishing and hunting. He also interviewed people who had been involved in the fur trade, the California Gold Rush and other pioneers which provided him with details that give his novels verisimilitude. He salted in humor and sympathy for colorful characters such as canny Indian guides and "greenhorn" campers who carried too much gear. White also illustrated some of his books with his own photographs, while some of his other books were illustrated by artists, such as the American Western painter Fernand Lungren for The Mountains and Camp and Trail. Theodore Roosevelt wrote that White was "the best man with both pistol and rifle who ever shot" at Roosevelt's rifle range at Sagamore Hill.
The Long Rifle, Folded Hills, Ranchero, and Stampede constitute The Saga of Andy Burnett, which follows a young Pennsylvania farm boy who escapes his overbearing stepfather by running away to the West with grandmother's blessing and "The Boone Gun", the original Kentucky rifle carried by Daniel Boone. He encounters mountain man Joe Crane, who becomes his mentor in the ways of survival in the wild. The remainder of the saga follows Andy as he moves west, ultimately settling in California, which is the setting of the last three books. The series incorporates actual events and characters from the time period in the narrative. The four stories were published as a posthumous volume, The Saga of Andy Burnett, in 1947, and were adapted into several episodes of The Wonderful World of Disney during 1957 and 1958, starring Jerome Courtland as Andy Burnett, and Jeff York as his friend and mentor Joe Crane. This series was in many ways a follow-up to Disney's much more successful Davy Crockett.

Honors

In 1927, the Boy Scouts of America made White an Honorary Scout, a new category of Scout created the same year. This distinction was given to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys...". The other eighteen who were awarded this distinction were: Roy Chapman Andrews; Robert Bartlett; Frederick Russell Burnham; Richard E. Byrd; George Kruck Cherrie; James L. Clark; Merian C. Cooper; Lincoln Ellsworth; Louis Agassiz Fuertes; George Bird Grinnell; Charles A. Lindbergh; Donald Baxter MacMillan; Clifford H. Pope; George P. Putnam; Kermit Roosevelt; Carl Rungius; Orville Wright.

Works

The Westerners The Claim Jumpers The Blazed Trail The Call of the North The Conjuror's House The Magic Forest: A Modern Fairy Story Blazed Trail Stories The Forest The Mountains The Silent Places The Pass, with S. H. AdamsThe Mystery, with S. H. AdamsArizona Nights Camp and Trail The Riverman The Cabin The Adventures of Bobby Orde Rules of the Game The Sign at Six The Land of Footprints African Camp Fires Gold The Gray Dawn Rediscovered Country Simba The Forty-Niners; A Chronicle of the California Trail and El Dorado The Killer The Rose Dawn Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
  • "The Glory Hole" Skookum Chuck Lions in the Path; A Book of Adventure on the High Veldt Back of Beyond Secret Harbour Dog Days, Other Times, Other Dogs; The Autobiography of a Man and His Dog Friends Through Four Decades of Changing America The Long Rifle
  • "The Shepper-Newfounder" Folded Hills Ranchero Pole Star, with Harry DeVighneWild Geese Calling
  • ''Stampede''

The Psychic Books

Credo Why Be a Mud Turtle
These first two books are "pre" Betty´s book. White discusses the philosophy of the future books, without revealing the source.Across the Unknown, with Harwood WhiteThe Unobstructed Universe The Road I Know Anchors to Windward The Stars are Still There With Folded Wings The job of living
  • ''The Gaelic Manuscripts''

Nonfiction

The Birds of Mackinac Island
  • ''Speaking For Myself''

Filmography