Eldred Kurtz Means
American Methodist Episcopal clergyman, public speaker and author
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Eldred Kurtz Means (March 11, 1878 – February 19, 1957) was an American Methodist Episcopal clergyman, famed public speaker, and author.[1] A white man, he wrote fictional stories about African/African American characters who lived in an area of Louisiana which he named Tickfall. He described the characters in the most grotesque, comical and sensational terms.[1] His magazine stories were compiled into books.[1] He was a constant and prolific contributor to Frank A. Munsey's pulp magazines such as All-Story Weekly, Argosy and its predecessors.[1] His use of black stereotypes, minstrel show motifs, Jim Crow characters, fantastical mimicry and impressionism of Negro dialect[1] made him a popular author with a niche of white audiences;[2][3][4] but the implicit racist message has not aged well.[1][2]
Early life
Means was born in Taylor County, Kentucky, the son of Virginia (née Lively) Means and George Hamilton Means. He married Ella Q. Crebbin in Monroe, Louisiana.[1][5]
Ministry
Means received a Doctor of Divinity, Centenary College of Louisiana.[5]
He had a far flung clerical career, involving more than a dozen posts:
- 1899 Ordained ministry Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
- 1899–1900, Pastor Ghent, Kentucky
- 1901, Erlanger
- 1902, Hodgenville
- 1903–1905, Louisiana Avenue Church, New Orleans
- 1905–1909, Baton Rouge
- 1909–1913, Minden
- 1913–1915, Shreveport
- 1915–1917, Arcadia
- 1917–1921, Monroe
- 1922–1925, Galloway Memorial Church, Jackson, Mississippi[6][7]
- 1925–1929, Court St. Church, Lynchburg, Virginia
- 1929–1933 Main Street Methodist Episcopal Church South, Danville, Virginia
- 1933–1937, Travis Street Church, Sherman, Texas
- 1937–1939, First Church, Helena, Arkansas
- 1939–1944, Central Methodist Church, Rogers, Arkansas[1][5]
Literary work
Over more than a half century, he wrote scores of short stories for pulp fiction magazines. A fairly complete listing of his published stories appears in the following reference.[1] In 1924, Irvin S. Cobb, an American humorist, numbered Means’s “darky stories” among his favorites. In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, he wrote: "[Means] is at home in Jackson, Miss. ... and pastor of Galloway Memorial Church M.E., South. ... He is a zealous clergyman, a gifted speaker, and a fluent writer, but being, as befits a clergyman, a truthful man also, Mr. Means would lay no claim to great personal beauty."[7]
Means defended his use of dialect, persons and places as being true-to-type with verisimilitude to a passing and important lifestyle and culture. He claimed a love for the people — the musicality and rhythm of their language, and professed a linguist's and an anthropologist's intent to preserve transitory culture and cultural artifacts — which were in imminent danger of extirpation, as the shadow of slavery waned in the distance.[1]
The publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons promoted him as part of its stable of authors highlighting white supremacy over other races.[2][8]
In 1918, an Ebony Film Corporation advertisement teased a coming film based on one of his Tickfall Tales titled Good Luck in Old Clothes.[9] The film was produced[10] and promoted as exemplifying "wholesome real droll Negro humor."[11]
In addition to his short stories, he had several books published.[12] Edward Winsor Kemble — well known for his racist caricatures[13] — illustrated several of his books.[14][15][16] His books were reviewed in several newspapers.[1]
Reception
Reviews of his works at the time were mixed, with the New York Tribune giving a favorable report.[2] In contrast, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote: “There are, among the better writers of today, three who can write negro stories with humor and understanding, and E.K. Means is not one of them”.[17] Several of his books, having gone out of copyright, have been reproduced by various republishers.
Means touted 'lack of titles' on three of his books was not universally welcomed. A New York Times reviewer castigated the third in the series: "The crass lack of good taste, and worse than crass conceit shown by the title of this volume, are not-redeemed by any remarkable quality in its content."[18]
His story "At the End of the Rope" contains the earliest known usage of the saying: If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all.[19][20][21]
He was one of the earliest recognized users of the word "doodlebug".[22]
Works (in chronological order)
- Means, Eldred Kurtz (November 17, 2011) [1918]. Negro Stories (Paperback). Nabu Press. ISBN 978-1-272-00944-1.
- Means, E.K.; Kemble, Edward Winsor, Illustrator. (1918) E. K. Means: Is This a Title? It Is Not. It Is the Name of a Writer of Negro Stories, Who Has Made Himself So Completely the Writer of Negro Stories That His Book Needs No Title New York, London: The Knickerbocker Press, G. P. Putnam's Sons[23][24][25]
- Means, E.K.; Kemble, Edward Winsor, Illustrator. (1919) More E. K. Means: Is This a Title? It Is Not. It Is the Name of a Writer of Negro Stories, Who Has Made Himself So Completely the Writer of Negro Stories That His Second Book Needs No Title New York, London: The Knickerbocker Press, G. P. Putnam's Sons[26]
- Means, E.K.; Kemble, Edward Winsor, Illustrator. (1920) Is This a Title? It Is Not. It Is the Name of a Writer of Negro Stories, Who Has Made Himself So Completely the Writer of Negro Stories That This Third Book, Like the First and Second, Needs No Title New York, London: The Knickerbocker Press, G. P. Putnam's Sons[27]
- Abdullah, Achmed; Brand, Max; Means, E.K.; Sheehan, Perley Poore (1920). The Ten Foot Chain: Can Love Survive the Shackles? — A Unique Symposium. New York: Reynolds Publishing Company.[28][29]
- “At the End of the Rope” by E. K. Means, Munsey's Magazine, New York (1927)
- Means, E.K. (1931). Black Fortune. New York: Brentano's.[30]
- Means, Eldred Kurtz (1957). Sunset Gun: The Public Addresses of Eldred K. Means. United States: Comet Press Books.[31]
