Willie Annette Snow (1898-12-10)December 10, 1898 Savannah, Georgia, US
Died
December 14, 1982(1982-12-14) (aged 84) Key West, Florida, US
Resting place
Big Carpet and Cudjoe Key
Occupation
Columnist
Writer
Humorist
Alma mater
Wesleyan College Mercer University
Subject
Biography
Travel guide
History
Notable works
You Can't Hardly Get There from Here
Strange fires: The true story of John Wesley's love affair in Georgia
Summer Thunder
Willie Snow Ethridge (December 10, 1898 – December 14, 1982), born Willie Annette Snow, was an American columnist, author, and humorist. She wrote seventeen books on biography, travel, and history, primarily biographical memoirs including an Aristocracy of Achievement (1929), As I Live and Breathe (1937), and It's Greek to Me (1941).[1][2] Her other works about topics such as labor,
lynching, and life include the Mingled Yarn (1938)[3] and Strange Fires (1971). In addition, she wrote several essays and columns for
The Telegraph,
Good Housekeeping, and the
New Republic, among other newspapers and magazines.[4]
Early life and education
Snow was born on December 10, 1898, in
Savannah, Georgia, to William Aaron and Georgia Cubbedge Snow. Her family moved to
Macon when she was a child, where she met her future husband, Mark Ethridge, a reporter with
Macon Telegraph at the time, while still in high school.[4]
She began working as a staffer at the Telegraph during
World War I and then went on to study journalism and English at the
Wesleyan College and
Mercer University. In 1920, Snow married Ethridge after his return from service in the war.[4]
Career
Snow first began writing for magazines such as The Telegraph, Good Housekeeping, and the New Republic. Her first book, Aristocracy of Achievement, was published in 1929. It was a biographical account of
Benjamin F. Hubert.[4] Her first commercially successful book was a memoir titled As I Live and Breathe, published in 1937.[5]
In late 1930s, she moved with her family to
Louisville, Kentucky, where they stayed for 28 years. During this time, Snow wrote and published another ten books mainly about her life with her family, describing them as roommates. Her reputation as a humorist and
satirist began to grow with the publishing of five books, the first of which was It's Greek to Me, published in 1948.[6][7]
At the same time, during the 1920 and 1930s, Snow also wrote about race and gender. She joined the
anti-lynching movement, mainly with the
Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching. Her work was about lynching and its consequences for African Americans and laborers from all ethnicities. Her book, Mingled Yarn, published in 1938, is a
pro-labor novel that describes the life of a laborer in a southern
mill town.[3][8][9]
After a trip to Russia in 1958, Snow wrote two novels, titled Nila and Russian Duet, both of which featured her travel companion, Nila Magidoff. The books found commercial success.[10][11]
She was awarded the North Carolina Award for Literature in 1982.[1][13]
Death
Snow died during a visit to her son's, David W. Ethridge, house in
Key West, Florida, on December 14, 1982.[1] She was cremated and her ashes were scattered near Big Carpet and
Cudjoe Key in Florida.[4]
Publications
An Aristocracy of Achievement (1929), Presses of Review Printing Co.
^Birchfield, James D. and Pope, Paula Leach (1990) "
Library Notes: Recent Acquisitions [v. 10, no. 2]," The Kentucky Review: Pg. 110, Vol. 10: No. 2, Article 9. Retrieved October 25, 2022
^
abHerring, Harriet L (1938). "ETHRIDGE. Mingled Yarn.(Book Review)". Social Forces. 17 (4): 594–595. in w. b. s.; l. l. b.; e. p. o.; g. l. Laf.; l. h. j.; c. j. b.; h. w. o.; s. h. h.; g. g. j.; h. l. h.; g. b. j.; m. j. h.; t. m.; c. h. p.; k. j. (May 1939). "Briefer Comment". Social Forces. 17 (4): 588–601.
doi:
10.1093/sf/17.4.588.
JSTOR2570729.