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GIIBERT P Camden Author Macie Famous By the Authorship of the "Frank Merriwelr' Novels

Author of Frank Mer· ell

Dies S San Di , llf.. Jan. B - (JP) Gilbert Pa n, '18, who ote under the~ name of Burt L. dish in producing the popular tFrank Merrtwell' 'stories, died 1n bJs sleep today in the home of his son. Harvan Be.rr Patten. Y? ~ V18ta, Calif. l~t, camden, Me., Jan. 16 - (JP} Gilbert Patten, prolific creator of the "Frank Merriwell" stories who died 1n his sleel? at Ban Diego, Calif., today, was •a Maine Yankee" and proud of it. Although Patten, who wrote the Merriwell series under the penname of Burt I,,. Standish, lived in New York muc.h of his life he wouldn't be called a New Yorker. His ance6tors helped settle Maine, he often said1 he was born and gTew up there, ana he always maintained his voting residence here in Camden. Born 1n the little Penobscot County town of Corinna, he was christened George William Paten, but dropped the William and changed the George to Gilbert In an attempt, which he said failed, to live down his early authorship of dime

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n, 'l'8 who n f Burt oducing "Frank Merriwell" es, died in his sleep Tue in the home of his son, Harvan Barr Patten, in subur~ ban Vista, 'O alif. Gilbert Patten was one of the most prolific writers of dime novel fiction in the world. IH1s tremendously, popular "Frank: jMerrlwell" stories, commencing in 1896 and continuing 17 years, totalled more than 25,000,000 words. IH1s life-time iproduction was estimdted at 40,000.000 words.

His

melodramatic lllerrlwell stories. e.ppearing in Tip Top Weeki,,. earned/ a fortune tor his l)ubllshers <street & Smith). He sensed the waning public pulse for that tyipe of fiction in 1912 and later was active in its transition into the "pulp" magazine of t.oday. iBom in Corinna, Me., he was Ohristened George William Patten and grew rapidly int.o a gangling six-foot, 116-;pound boy at 14. The nickname "Wlllie" in early youth riled him so he dropped the "William" and changed "George" to "Oil-bert" in an effort, he said, t.o get away from his rel.'ord of dime novel a.uthorship under his real

name.

"It didn'.t work," he said rue• rully. He ran away from his home at 16 because of his aversion to school and his !ether's ultimatum: Study or r<> to work." Earning 90 cents a da.y in a machine shop, he learned that had labor 'W8& the only resource of the unskilled. Determined to ibe an author, 'he went home. received $6 for both his first ehorts, short storiea entitled "A !Bad !Man" and "The Pride of Saney. Flat." At 19 he sold "The Diamond Sport" for $50. A second novel sold for $75, a. third for $100, and his career had started. A friend and schoolmate, Allee Gardiner, became his critic and copyist, contributing to his early success. She married !Patten in 1886, the first of his three marital ventures. They were divorced in 1898. Patten and his second wife, Mary Nunn, were married in 1900 and divorced in 19~. Jn 1918 he married Carol Kramer of New York, who died in 1939. Patten divided most of his time for a ha.JI!' century at his ibome OVerrocks" in Camden, where he spent his Summers, and in New York, his 'Winter domicile.

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Patten's pseudonym. Burt L. Standish, was the result, he said. of his love of Longfellow's "The Courtship or Miles Standish." The name of his story hero, "Frank IMerriwell," was devised thus: "1! took the three qualities I most wa.nted him to embody-frank and merry in nature and well in body and mind-and made the name Frank Merriwell," he said. When "Frank Merriwell' graduated !rom Yale his fiction brother, 'U>ick! Merriwell," carried on about 100'7, followe<l by "Prank IMerriwell. Jr.," who saw the series decline and j fall. · iPatten was employed for a time on the "Eastern State," a Dexter, Me., newspa,per, and his reading taste for "thrillers" waned. He ventured into the weekly newspaper publishing business in 1888 with the "Corinna OWl," but he sold it shortly afterward. Moving to Camden, !Patten continued to write and in Slimmer devoted himself to managing a professional baseball team. .Among his players w11.s Bill Carrigan, late to become famous with the !Boston !Red Sox, who received $12 a week and board for his services. Opportunity came when Patten. at the age of 30, was Qffered a. chance to write "on aipproval" for Tip Top • eekly "The !Boy From the W West." .rt began a period of 20 years of continuous fiction "'Writing. "Frank Merriwell, or !First Days at Fardale," came off the presses in IAprtl, 1896, ancl :Patten received a contract for three y,ears e.t $50 a week. It drove him to night and day efforts, ·f or he required time for research as well a.s writing. Often he flnishedl an instal!r:nient barely in time to reach the presses. !Renewal of his contract came in Ul99 and an advance to $60 for each i n s ~ t or the Merriwell ieries. In the last four years Patten did the actual writing of them, he recasion he wanted a ,week off, he ceived $150 a week. When on ocstepped' up his output. At one time he wrote 50,000 words in a weekhis best record. /When iPatten dropped the writing of the Merriwell series other writers kept the series alive until 1916. Meanwhile, Patten took the editorship of Top !Notch, first of the sport story ipulp magazines of today, and wrote much of its material himself. iAtlt.e:r 19E!Ven. issues he resigned to !become its chief contributor.

noftllr. Many of th hlch bOr9 • titJea as "Doulllc ban: the Da.sta.rd." were written shonJ¥ after he came to Camden abou 1888. ln betwe n tftrlllers, he managed a semi-pro baseball team here.

Pa tten's literary apprenticeship s on the ol " li'.astern State, a weekly newsimper ?Ubllih a.t De1:ter, and his own weekly, "The Corinna Owl," which he edited and published in his home t.own. For 30 years after he had won fame in New York with his Merriwell stories, Patten continued to return to Camden as a summer resident of "Overocks," a substantial, attractive hQme on the shore of Penob6cot Bay.

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