MY PHILOSOPHY
Hollywood, California: Privately Published, 1947. First Edition. Wraps. With an autograph letter signed (ALS) by Kate Crane-Gartz on her personal letterhead tipped in before the title page. Extracts from the ten books of "Letters of Protest" the author published, beginning with The Parlor Provocateur (1923). The heiress of the Crane Plumbing Company, Kate Crane-Gartz (1865-1949) moved to Altadena, California, in 1908. The salon she established under a rose arbor at her home, The Cloister, emerged as a center of intellectual, cultural, and civil activities. Regular visitors included Upton Sinclair and his wife, publisher Mary Sinclair, as well as Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, Aline Barnsdall, King Gillette, and other leftist thinkers. They considered socialist solutions to society's problems and supported various progressive projects and candidates. It was Crane-Gartz who bailed Upton Sinclair out of jail several times, most famously after his arrest for reading the Constitution to unionizing dockworkers in 1923; she was also a key supporter of his failed bid for governor in 1934. Detractors dubbed her a Parlor Pinko, which did little to diminish the public safety reforms, along with women's and workers' rights, and philanthropic efforts she championed during an activist career that spanned more than five decades. Octavo: 63, [1] pp. Original limp blue leatherette binding, with gilt-stamped titling. Some general edgewear; otherwise very good. Very good. Item #80642
Price: $85.00