Harold E. Stearns
Harold E. Stearns was an American journalist and author born on May 7, 1891, in Barre, Massachusetts. Initially named Harold Edmund Doyle, he adopted the surname Stearns later in life. Orphaned by his father's death shortly before his birth, Stearns persevered through financial difficulties to pursue an education, eventually graduating with honors from Harvard University in 1913. His journalism career began with book reviews for the Boston Evening Transcript and expanded through various roles, including feature writer for the Boston Herald and the New York Press.
Stearns's early literary contributions include notable works such as "Liberalism in America" and "America and the Young Intellectual," where he critiqued American society and its perceived greed. His later years saw a decline in reputation as he faced financial struggles and embraced a lifestyle centered around horse racing. He spent significant time in Europe, particularly in Paris, before returning to the U.S. and remarrying in 1937. Stearns passed away in Hempstead, New York, in 1943, leaving behind a legacy marked by his critical views on American civilization and a diverse career in journalism.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Harold E. Stearns
Writer
- Born: May 7, 1891
- Birthplace: Barre, Massachusetts
- Died: August 13, 1943
- Place of death: Hempstead, New York
Biography
Harold Edmund Stearns was born in Barre, Massachusetts, on May 7, 1891. His birth certificate actually listed his name as Harold Edmund Doyle, and later he took the name Stearns. Stearns’s father died shortly before his birth, and his mother had a difficult time raising him on her own. He was determined to receive an education, and largely through his own ingenuity, he was able to afford to go to high school. Just prior to graduation, he began reviewing books for the newspaper the Boston Evening Transcript, which began his career in journalism.
Stearns entered Harvard University in 1909, and although he faced much financial hardship, he finished the requirements for his degree in 1912 and graduated with honors the following year. While still at Harvard, he started reporting for the Boston Herald. After graduation, he obtained a job as a feature writer in New York, working for the Evening Sun. He worked for the Evening Sun for a short time before joining the Dramatic Mirror. In 1913, he met the drama critic for the New York Pressn, who persuaded Stearns to become a theatrical feature writer for the Press. While working at the Press, he met the author Somerset Maugham. He also met Djuna Barnes, who was to become a lifelong friend.
In 1914, Stearns traveled to Europe. He traveled through London with Somerset Maugham, and then went to Paris. At the time, both France and England were entering into World War I, and Stearns, a pacifist, had no desire to become a war correspondent. He returned to the United States and worked for The New Republic. In 1917, he moved to Chicago to become an editor at the Dial, a literary magazine. He returned to New York in 1918 when the Dial moved its base of operations there. He married Alice MacDougal in 1919, but she died not long afterward from complications of childbirth.
Stearns left New York for Europe in 1921 and began working as a correspondent for The Baltimore Sun in London. Stearns’s friend, the author Sinclair Lewis, financed a trip to Paris, and Stearns stayed there for many years. For the next several years, Stearns, nearly destitute, worked for various newspapers and borrowed money from his literary friends. His reputation declined as a result of his lifestyle. He became fascinated with horse racing, and spent several years as a racing forecaster for various newspapers. He eventually returned to the United States, and married Elizabeth Chapin in 1937. He died in Hempstead, New York, in 1943.
Stearns is best known for his earliest writings, Liberalism in America: Its Origin, Its Temporary Collapse, Its Future and America and the Young Intellectual. In these books, he criticized the United States for being, in his opinion, filled with greed. His later work, Civilization in the United States: An Inquiry by Thirty Americans, was a collection of essays written by his friends that urged Americans to leave the country. The book was soundly criticized for its content, which, in spite of the book’s stated goal to provide a critical look at life in America, became instead a series of rambling, opinionated essays.