Paul Gallico

Paul William Gallico (1897-1976) was an American writer, initially gaining recognition as a sports journalist for the New York Daily News. His career began with notable interviews and accounts of prominent athletes. Gallico transitioned to fiction writing in the late 1930s, producing numerous short stories for magazines and expanding some into novellas and novels. His works often explored themes of sentimentality and storytelling, with many being adapted into films and television programs. Gallico's writing encompassed a wide range of subjects, from adventure and fairy tales to disaster narratives and even a humorous guide from a cat's perspective. He lived in various locations internationally before his death in France.

Born in 1897, Paul Gallico began his writing career in the 1920s as a sports writer and editor for the New York Daily News. He established his reputation through engaging profiles of sports figures like Jack Dempsey and Dizzy Dean, becoming one of the highest-paid sports writers. His early book, 'Lou Gehrig: Pride of the Yankees,' was adapted into a successful film. In the late 1930s, Gallico shifted his focus to fiction, a decision he reflected on in his essay 'Farewell to Sport.' He found success writing short stories for popular magazines, notably The Saturday Evening Post, and later expanded these into longer works.

Gallico's fiction often resonated with a wide audience, frequently exploring sentimental themes. His novella 'The Snow Goose,' expanded from a magazine story, received critical acclaim and an O. Henry Award, though some critics noted its strong emotional appeal. He penned four novels about the character Mrs. Harris, a charwoman whose adventures, beginning with 'Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris,' became a beloved series. Gallico also wrote 'The Poseidon Adventure,' a novel about survivors of a capsized ocean liner, which gained significant fame through its 1972 film adaptation. Other works include 'The Adventures of Hiram Holliday' and 'The Love of Seven Dolls,' which inspired the film 'Lili.'

After leaving sports writing to focus on fiction, Gallico moved from New York to Salcombe, England. His writing career spanned decades, and he lived in various international locations, including Liechtenstein, Mexico, and Monaco, before settling in Antibes, France, where he died in 1976. His travels also inspired his writing, such as a series of stories resulting from a 1955 automobile tour of the United States sponsored by Reader's Digest. Gallico's prolific output included 41 books and numerous short stories, alongside screenplays and television adaptations.

“For all her occasional beauty and unquestioned courage, there has always been something faintly ridiculous about the big-time lady athletes.”

“The game places a premium on an alert, scheming mind, flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general smart aleckness.”

“I'm a rotten novelist. I'm not even literary. I just like to tell stories and all my books tell stories.... If I had lived 2,000 years ago I'd be going around to caves, and I'd say, 'Can I come in? I'm hungry. I'd like some supper. In exchange, I'll tell you a story. Once upon a time there were two apes.' And I'd tell them a story about two cavemen.”

“in the contest between sentiment and 'slime,' 'sentiment' remains so far out in front, as it always has and always will among ordinary humans that the calamity-howlers and porn merchants have to increase the decibels of their lamentations, the hideousness of their violence and the mountainous piles of their filth to keep in the race at all.”

“Mr. Gallico collects a Grand Hotel (a reference to the 1930 Vicki Baum novel) full of shipboard dossiers. These interlocking histories may be damp with sentimentality as well as brine—but the author's skill as a storyteller invests them with enough suspense to last the desperate journey.”