Famous Authors (Men)Harkins, E. F. (Edward Francis)
General
Famous Authors (Men)
Harkins, E. F. (Edward Francis)
Authors, American -- 19th century -- Biography
But we must not lose sight of the fact that all the time the successful
story-teller kept up his editorial work on the paper to whose fame
he was contributing so materially. Indeed, until his retirement from
newspaper work, in 1900, his chief title was that of a "hard-working
journalist." It was his habit until within recent years to give his
mornings and afternoons to the _Constitution_ work, and his evenings
to miscellaneous literary work. He was able to maintain this arduous
program for so long a time because of his apparently inexhaustible
good nature and his simple manner of life; and, moreover, attention
to duties at hand soon became second nature in him. In recent years,
however, he gave only his mornings to his editorial labors. "His
habit," says an Atlanta correspondent, "was to come down to the office
at nine o'clock in the morning, get his editorial assignments for the
day, and then go home and do his work, sending his copy down early in
the afternoon." Such was his spirit of independence that if the editor
chanced to be late in coming down to the office he would not waste time
in waiting for him, but would pick up his bundle of newspapers and
start for home. Nevertheless, he would send in his copy without fail.
On making his morning visit to the office Mr. Harris was never out of
sorts. His good humor was perennial, and he never failed to impart
it to his co-workers. Though it was his lot to write editorials on
political topics, he never enjoyed the rancor of partisan politics, and
he managed to put into his editorials enough of humor to make the work
pleasant to himself as well as to others.
At the same time, the idol of the _Constitution_ staff, it is said,
never took a hearty interest in politics; he simply bowed to the
fact that as an editorial writer he could hardly eschew politics
entirely. But he felt that he owed much to the _Constitution_ for the
opportunity it had given him to make his reputation; and he allowed
this circumstance to outweigh his personal inclinations until the time
came when he found that he would either have to give up his editorial
work or neglect his literary contracts. So, finally, on Sept. 6, 1900,
he departed from the office of the _Constitution_ for good, taking
with him the tearful love of all his associates. As a sort of legacy,
he left two sons on the paper, Julian, the managing news editor, and
Evelyn, the city editor.
And then, almost at the end of his fifty-second year, the dearest
Georgian of them all entered upon an unembarrassed literary career,
with every promise of doing more work and better work than ever. But
even if this promise should rest unfulfilled--which seems almost out
of question--we have with us Uncle Remus and Aunt Minervy Ann, Brer
Rabbit and Brer Fox, creations unsurpassed in originality and in
delightfulness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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