Arthur Moss
Arthur Moss was a journalist and editor born in 1889 in Greenwich Village, New York City, to a Turkish-born mother and a German-Jewish father. He began his career in journalism after briefly attending Cornell University, initially reporting in upstate New York before returning to his roots in Greenwich Village, where he edited a literary journal called Quill. Moss aimed to create literary works that were accessible to a diverse audience, including women and international readers. In 1921, he and his partner Florence Gilliam moved to Paris, where they launched the magazine Gargoyle, which focused on avant-garde arts and the expatriate community, although it only lasted a year due to financial issues.
Moss then wrote a column for the Paris Herald titled "Over the River," exploring the artistic community's activities. His first book, "Slapstick and Dumbbell: A Casual Survey of Clowns and Clowning," was co-authored with painter Hiler Harzberg and published in 1924. In 1927, he took on the role of editor for the literary journal Boulevardier, which ran until 1932 and featured contributions from notable writers such as Sinclair Lewis and Ernest Hemingway. Throughout his career, Moss primarily focused on nonfiction writing, chronicling the experiences of the expatriate community in a style reminiscent of The New Yorker.
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Arthur Moss
Author
- Born: 1889
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: February 20, 1969
- Place of death: Neuilly, France
Biography
Arthur Moss was born in 1889 in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City, the son of a Turkish-born mother and a German-Jewish father. Although his family steadily assimilated into American culture, Moss continued to identify with his European heritage. He enrolled at Cornell University but abandoned his collegiate career early to pursue a career in journalism, reporting in upstate New York before returning to Greenwich Village, where he edited the literary journal Quill.
Moss believed in creating works accessible to and considerate of broad audiences, including women and international readers. After meeting Florence Gilliam when the latter was working in a bookstore, Moss brought Gilliam’s talents to Quill in September 1920. Realizing that the wide audience they desired was not available in New York, Moss and Gilliam moved to Paris in 1921.
Living in a small apartment on Rue Campagne Premiere, they founded the magazine Gargoyle, intended for the international artistic and literary community and covering the avant-garde arts. Though many of the best emerging and established modern artists and writers contributed to the impressive publication, Gargoyle did not turn a profit and lasted only one year. Still, the experience of publishing the magazine placed Moss firmly within the creative expatriate community, and he next began writing a column for the Paris Herald. The column, “Over the River,” covered the activities of the artistic community.
At this time he also began work on his first book, Slapstick and Dumbbell: A Casual Survey of Clowns and Clowning, published in 1924 and written with American painter Hiler Harzberg, also known among expatriates as Hilaire Hiler. Hiler owned a nightclub, The Jockey, at which the expatriate intellectuals gathered, and Moss even worked at the club at one point to supplement his income and to gather information for his column. Moss began editing the literary journal Boulevardier in 1927, chronicling the experiences of the expatriate community in the style of The New Yorker. Boulevardier was published from 1927 until 1932 and featured stories by such writers as Sinclair Lewis and Ernest Hemingway. Moss’s own subsequent writings were primarily nonfiction.