FEEDBACK, COMMENTS, LOVE LETTERS: 2004
From: <jkcalkin@bellsouth.net>
Date: 01/01/2004
Subject: question about a James Jones book
Greetings and Happy New Year!
I am doing a bit of research online for my grandmother. She has a book
by James Jones titled The Thin Red Line. It has a light green/tan
colored dusk jacket with a picture of a helmet resting on a gun, and the
book's bound cover has map illustrations. The title page has a date of 1962
showing, but there is no record of the publisher of the book to be found
in it. I am wondering if you might be able to tell me who published the book,
(I know that some editions list Scribner & Sons as the publisher) and
perhaps what kind of value might be placed on an edition such as this. I
appreciate any assistance you can give in finding this information. Thank
you very much!
J. Kevin Calkins
From: "David Lalonde" davidjlalonde@sympatico.ca
Date: 01/24/2004
Subject: Documentary
I'm wondering if you know how I could obtain a copy of the television
documentary of James Jones' life?
From: "royce jones" <jon1244@attg.net>
Date: 04/12/2004
Subject: James Jones Inquiry
Recently a friend, who happens to be a writer, told me that James
Jones did part of the writing of From Here To Eternity, in Mtn.
Home, Arkansas.
Do you have any knowledge of this or can you direct the question
on to someone who can answer it?
Thank you.
From: "royce jones" <jon1244@attg.net>
Date: 04/13/2004
Subject: Re: James Jones Inquiry
Thanks for the effort. I am a native of Mtn. Home and although I
don't live
there now, I have an interest in the area's history. There is a very active
history group there and I'm sure that they would enjoy this information
if
it is valid.
Our family was a pioneer family in N AR, thus my interest. My name
is
Jones, but I seriously doubt that there is any family association to James
Jones. However there were 15 children in my ggrandfather's family
and they
spread to the four winds, with some migrating to Illinois. Who knows....
There was a migration to Mtn. Home after WWII due to the building of Norfork
Lake during the 1940's as part of the "war effort." It has become
a mecca
for retirees. It could be that his parents or some of his relatives
were
early retirees to the beautiful Ozarks, and he spent time with them.
Thanks again,
Royce
Answer:
From: "Wood, Thomas" <Wood.Thomas@uis.edu>
Date: 04/19/2004
Subject: RE: James Jones Inquiry
Jones, Lowney Handy and Willard Lindsay spent some time camping in the
Mountain Home-Henderson, Arkansas area in June-July, 1949. Jones had his
trailer on this trip, and they camped at Cedar Point on Norfolk Lake.
They arrived in the area about June 6, 1949. All three wrote letters to
Harry Handy decribing their experiences. On June 24 Lowney wrote to Harry
"Jim's book has had to have a lot of discussions. We have been fighting
and
planning and getting it ironed out. We had a bad week last one - but this
promises to be better. It's moving along and three more months should
see it
completed."
Harry Handy appears to have joined them around July 4, and by July 16
Jones,
Lowney Handy and Lindsay had moved on to Kansas and later continued west
to
California, where Jones completed From Here to Eternity in February,
1950.
Thomas J. Wood
Archivist
Archives/Special Collections LIB 144
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza, MS BRK 140
Springfield IL 62703-5407
217-206-6520 | wood@uis.edu | <http://www.uis.edu/archives/>
From: "royce jones" <jon1244@attg.net>
Date: 04/21/2004
Subject: Re: James Jones Inquiry
Thanks for your effort. I received the information and it has been
forwarded on to the Baxter Co. History Society, as well as to the Butler
Center in Little Rock.
Those little tidbits of information about an area can give color to that
area. There were many visitors of James Jones caliber , such as Hemmingway,
John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Sid Caesar, Ernie Ford and others. Jones
made his
visit very special since he was actively writing a masterpiece.
Many thanks... Royce Jones
From: "George Linn" <linn@cham-cor.com>
Date: 05/10/2004
Subject: Love Letter - May, 2004
Just finished the Willie Morris' book "Friendship". Willie
was an old friend of mine I met through Larry King while working for
the Congress - 1964-1971. On one occasion I briefly met James
in Washington, D.C. with Willie. Having read Jones' books over the
years, Willie's wonderful account of his relationship with James was a
special treat. I will be sending a contribution both to the
Society and Willie's fund in Yazoo.
It is especially rewarding to see Kaylie's success and read her first-rate
works.
Thanks for your work and a great site.
Best,
George W. Linn
Croton, Ohio
From: "pepperco" <pepperco@comcast.net>
Date: 05/28/2004
Subject: How to tell if a real first edition?
Sir:
I found in a used bookstore in Dallas what I think might be a first
edition of James Jones's From Here to Eternity.
I see that 90,000 copies of that book were sold quite soon after publication.
How do I tell if I have a true 1st edition? How many copies of
the 1st edition were printed?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
OWEN
Answer:
From: "Wood, Thomas" <Wood.Thomas@uis.edu>
Date: 05/28/2004
Subject: RE: How to tell if a real first edition?
The first edition/first printing will have the letter "A" and the Scribner's
seal on the copyright page. Later printings of the first edition have the
seal but not the "A".
I suspect that 90,000 is the number of that first printing.
An unknown number of copies of the first edition were issued with a
tipped-in certificate of limitation signed by Jones.
A good source of information on the publication history of Jones's works
is
John R. Hopkins' James Jones: A Checklist (Detroit: Gale Research,
1974).
Thomas J. Wood
Archivist
Archives/Special Collections LIB 144
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza, MS BRK 140
Springfield IL 62703-5407
217-206-6520 | wood@uis.edu | <http://www.uis.edu/archives/>
From: "pepperco" <pepperco@comcast.net>
Date: 05/28/2004
Subject: Re: How to tell if a real first edition?
Sir:
Thank you very much for the information. I had found at an estate
sale what
I mistakenly thought was a first edition. I took the book to a rare
bookstore, their expert immediately informed me that I do not have a first
edition. Still I own a great book! I really enjoy the books
of James
Jones.
Best wishes!
OWEN
From: JackFlorek@aol.com
Date: 08/04/2004
Subject: Q about membership
Hello,
I am a younger writer and devotee (for lack of a better word) of James Jones.
I would like to join the JJLS and further the cause of raising the awareness
for Mr. Jones and his work. Are the terms still the same for membership or
is there a dues increase about to come in the fall?
Thank you,
Jack Florek
"hairoil" <hairoil@ntlworld.com>
08/19/2004 09:39 AM
Please respond to "hairoil"
To: <rking@indian.vinu.edu>
cc:
Subject: james jones.
Can anyone tell me Where the Stockade was that Mr.Jones described
in FHTE? and what he was sent there for?
Answer:
From: "Wood, Thomas" <Wood.Thomas@uis.edu>
Date: 08/19/2004
Subject: RE: james jones
The only stockade I know of that Jones actually spent time in was at Camp
Campbell, Kentucky. In May 1944 he went AWOL and stayed with a friend in
Indianapolis. Lowney Handy tracked him down and persuaded him to return
to
Camp Campbell. According to MacShane "he was charged with being absent for
two weeks and was placed in the stockade. His stay there was brief, but
he
had glimpses of the sort of violence that he later described in _From Here
to Eternity_. The worst outrage he witnessed was seeing a man have his ears
torn from his head." (Frank MacShane Into Eternity, Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1985, p. 68)
He surely heard stories of the Stockade at Schofield Barracks but to my
knowledge he was never there as an inmate.
Thomas J. Wood
Archivist
Archives/Special Collections LIB 144
University of Illinois at Springfield
One University Plaza, MS BRK 140
Springfield IL 62703-5407
217-206-6520 | wood@uis.edu | <http://www.uis.edu/archives/>
From: "hairoil" <hairoil@ntlworld.com>
Date: 08/20/2004
Subject: Re: james jones.
Thanks for your prompt reply. I am indeed an avid fan of James Jones, I
first
read "FHTE" when I was in the armed forces myself in Egypt in 1954 and I
have read it many times since.As you are aware Mr.Jones has a "Special note"
about the Stockade scenes in all volumes of the work and I have been
intrigued as to where and when he experienced them since I first read the
book. I have had a reply from Tom Wood which goes some way towards explaining
them. I would like to read a definitive biography of James Jones'
life, especially of his time in the US army.Can you recommend one
lease?( author and publisher/date). I have always thought it a pity that
he
never wrote an autobiography.Thank you very much for your attention to my
request, I look forward to hearing from you again as soon as you can. Many
Regards,
H.Watson.Darlington.U.K.
From: JLOUANDBOB@wmconnect.com
Date: 09/03/2004
Subject: Memories
Having lived during the latter years of elementary school and high school
in the home my father purchased from Ray Jones (known now as the James Jones
home) and having known Jim fairly well, I am thankful for your web site.
I remember having attended a party in a home in Robinson one evening at
which Jim was also a guest. We engaged in a conversation about children.
He avowed that parents' motive in having children was to heighten their
own egos. I shared with him that having found a damp diaper on my pillow
before coming to the party did little to enlarge my ego.
He was quite a guy!
Bob Jones (no relation)
3343 Parkhill Dr.
Billings, MT 59102
From: "Irwin Greenstein" <irwin.greenstein@verizon.net>
Date: 09/16/2004
Subject: I knew James Jones
I studied fiction writing with James Jones in 1974 at Florida International
University, immediately after he returned to the U.S. from Paris. He
was kind enough to sign a hardcover of From Here To Eternity with the
inscription “You have what it takes. Keep working.”
I just completed a first novel about a Korean War veteran who befriends
Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg in 1950s San Francisco.
Sincerely,
Irwin Greenstein