Leslie Hunter Whitten, Jr. Papers

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Held by Special Collections, Linderman Library
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015

Call No.: SC MS 007
128 boxes, 45.8 linear feet

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A collection of papers beginning in 1934, including articles, clippings, research materialsas well as publications of Leslie Hunter Whitten, Jr., Lehigh Class of 1950. The materialis divided into three series: (1) Whitten's personal life, beginning with his growing up years into the present; (2) material connected with his books, poetry and short stories including research, typed and manuscript copies; (3) material from his years as a journalist with the Washington Post for the Hearst newspapers, for Jack Anderson and the "Washington Merry-Go-Round" column, and others. This section includes a great deal of research material loosely sorted in the same general headings as he saved it, and a complete set of "Merry-Go-Round" columns from October 1969 through December 1977, the period of time he was employed full time by Jack Anderson.

SERIES I; PERSONAL: 10 Boxes

This series includes family correspondence, early school report cards, many photographs, articles, reviews of his books, scrapbooks of articles he wrote, and other miscellaneous personal material from Whitten's youth up to the present time.

SERIES II; BOOKS, POETRY, and SHORT STORIES: 41 Boxes

This series includes research material, drafts, typescripts and galleys, mostly of Whitten's novels, but including some short stories and poetry, arranged in publication order.

               Progeny of the Adder     1965
               Terror at Morning Tide   1966
               Moon of the Wolf         1967
               Pinion, the Golden Eagle 1968
               Abyss (Baudelaire translations)1970
               F. Lee Bailey            1971
               The Alchemist            1973
               Conflict of Interest     1976
               Sometimes A Hero         1979
               Washington Cycle (poems) 1979
               A Killing Pace           1983
               A Day Without Sunshine   1985
               Fighting Violent Crime in America1985
               Short Stories
               Poetry
               The Last Disciple        1990

SERIES III; REPORTER: 65 Boxes

HEARST PERIOD (5 boxes)

This material is mostly clippings of articles Whitten wrote for the Heart newspapers, plus some research material he saved.

ANDERSON PERIOD (60 boxes)

This material includes many documents listed under the same headings used by Whitten, plus a complete set of "Merry-Go-Round" columns written during the years that he was employed by Jack Anderson. Categories include Accuracy in Media; American Association of Retired Persons; Banks; Consumers; Animals; Crime; Department of Defense; Drugs; Energy; Farms; Guns; Foreign; Health; Indians; Insurance; Intelligence Agencies; Oil; Patents; Payola; Pensions; Payoffs; People; Politics; Pollution; Power; Prisons; Radiation; Religion; Stocks; Smithsonian Institution; Miscellaneous; and Whitten.

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Series I; PERSONAL (Boxes 1 to 5; 101 to 103; and 115-116:)

Box 1: Youth

• Folder 1.01 Grade School Years.
• Folder 1.02 High School Years.
• Folder 1.03 Summer Trips.
• Folder 1.04 Lehigh Correspondence Home.
• Folder 1.05 Lehigh, Academics.
• Folder 1.06 Lehigh, Writing.
• Folder 1.07 Lehigh, Newspaper articles.
• Folder 1.18 Lehigh, Photographs.
• Folder 1.09 Lehigh, Poetry.
• Folder 1.10 Mother's DAR Record; Father's Death & Funeral.

Box 2: 1950's

• Folder 2.01 Diaries from trips to Europe and Mexico.
• Folder 2.02 Army Days.
• Folder 2.03 Army Correspondence Home.
• Folder 2.04 Letters from Europe-1951-1952.
• Folder 2.05 Letters from Europe-1953.
• Folder 2.06 Maps, foreign.
• Folder 2.07 Other correspondence.
• Folder 2.08 Musings.
• Folder 2.09 Letters between Whitten & wife, Phyllis.
• Folder 2.10 Letters to Phyllis.
• Folder 2.11 Letters to Whitten.
• Folder 2.12 Letters from Phyllis.

Box 3: Personal and Photos

• Folder 3.01 Assorted passports, tags, address books, ID cards, and shrapnel.
• Folder 3.02 Photographs, Whitten's Youth.
• Folder 3.03 Photographs, 1950s and 1960s.
• Folder 3.04 Photographs, 1970s and 1980s.
• Folder 3.05 Rockefeller Grant application, 1982.
• Folder 3.06 Material sent with Rockefeller application.

Box 4: Personal

• Folder 4.01 Biography, Resume.
• Folder 4.02 Family, home.
• Folder 4.03 Lehigh University, visiting professor.
• Folder 4.04 Publishing contracts.
• Folder 4.05 Correspondence re donation of materials.
• Folder 4.06 Law Suit, 1970s.
• Folder 4.07 Awards, letters, etc. 1950s and 1960s.
• Folder 4.08 Articles, reviews, 1960s.
• Folder 4.09 Letters, etc. 1970s.
• Folder 4.10 Articles, 1970s.
• Folder 4.11 Personal expense accounts, a few.
• Folder 4.12 Personal correspondence, 1980s.
• Folder 4.13 Leslie Farber, Whitten's psychiatrist.
• Folder 4.14 Miscellaneous writing and posters.
• Folder 4.15 Three magazines, 1973.

Box 5: Articles and Mentions

• Folder 5.01 Mentions, 1960s.
• Folder 5.02 Articles and Mentions, 1970s.
• Folder 5.03 Articles and Mentions, 1980-1981.
• Folder 5.04 Articles and Mentions, 1982.
• Folder 5.05 Articles and Mentions, 1983.
• Folder 5.06 Articles and Mentions, 1984-1987.
• Folder 5.07 Undated clippings.
• Folder 5.08 Miscellaneous writings.

Series II. BOOKS, SHORT STORIES AND POETRY (Boxes 6 to 46)

Box 6: Unfinished "First Novel"

• Folder 6.01 Typescript of novel; Lehigh University scene, take place 1946-1951.

Box 7: Progeny of the Adder

• Folder 7.01 First draft.
• Folder 7.02 Correspondence with publisher.

Box 8: Terror at Morning Tide

• Folder 8.01 Television movie treatment sold to ABC but never produced.
• Folder 8.02 Manuscript.

Box 9: Terror at Morning Tide
(Three early manuscripts of Terror at Morning Tide.)

• Folder 9.01 It Walked the Night-first draft.
• Folder 9.02 It Walked the Night-TV movie draft.
• Folder 9.03 One Crimson Night-rough draft.

Box 10: Moon of the Wolf

• Folder 10.01 Reader's set of galleys.
• Folder 10.02 Second set of galleys.
• Folder 10.03 Third set of galleys.
• Folder 10.04 Typescript.

Box 11: Moon of the Wolf
(This story became Moon of the Wolf.)

• Folder 11.01 On Wolf's Feet, scratch copy and research.
• Folder 11.02 On Wolf's Feet, rough manuscript.
• Folder 11.03 On Wolf's Feet, better manuscript.
• Folder 11.04 Publisher's correspondence.
• Folder 11.05 Movie script.

Box 12: Pinion, the Golden Eagle

• Folder 12.01 Rough manuscript.
• Folder 12.02 Research.
• Folder 12.03 Incomplete typescript.
• Folder 12.04 Typescript.
• Folder 12.05 Clean typescript.
• Folder 12.06 Working manuscript.
• Folder 12.07 Research materials-4 government hearing documents, and 1 Audubon Society report.
• Folder 12.08 Correspondence with publisher.

Box 13: Abyss (Baudelaire) Poetry

• Folder 13.01 Many versions and translations, 1963-1977.
• Folder 13.02 More translations, 1977-1979.
• Folder 13.03 More work, 1980-1987.

Box 14: F. Lee Bailey
(These are original research files as Whitten kept them, using his headings.) (2 boxes).

• Folder 14.01 Cop I.
• Folder 14.02 Hampton.
• Folder 14.03 Dovico.
• Folder 14.04 B-M.
• Folder 14.05 Ba-H.
• Folder 14.06 B-BU.
• Folder 14.07 B-Kua.
• Folder 14.08 McCarthy.
• Folder 14.09 B-Am.
• Folder 14.10 Coppolino.
• Folder 14.11 Mitchell murder.
• Folder 14.12 McLaughlin.
• Folder 14.13 NASA.

Box 15: F. Lee Bailey

• Folder 15.01 De Salvo.
• Folder 15.02 Harry.
• Folder 15.03 Heffernan.
• Folder 15.04 Angiulo's.
• Folder 15.05 Cop II-clips.
• Folder 15.06 Schmidt.
• Folder 15.07 Bonomi.
• Folder 15.08 Elliot.
• Folder 15.09 Sax.
• Folder 15.10 Plymouth mail.
• Folder 15.11 Paelia.
• Folder 15.12 Willard Page.
• Folder 15.13 Krep I.
• Folder 15.14 Krep II.
• Folder 15.15 Nassar.
• Folder 15.16 Fatalo.
• Folder 15.17 Edgerly.
• Folder 15.18 Turczyn.
• Folder 15.19 Correspondence.
• Folder 15.20 Miscellaneous.

Box 16: F. Lee Bailey

• Folder 16.01 Supreme Court Petition, Thompson vs. Minnesota.
• Folder 16.02 Connecticut Bar Journal.
• Folder 16.03 Boston University Law Review.
• Folder 16.04 Publisher's Weekly.
• Folder 16.05 Maps and magazine.
• Folder 16.06 Court transcript, Massachusetts vs. Kreplick.
• Folder 16.07 Eight tapes.

Box 17: F. Lee Bailey

• Folder 17.01 "The Coppolino Murder Trial" paperback book.
• Folder 17.02 "Retrial-Murder and Dr.Sam Sheppard" paperback book.
• Folder 17.03 Research, newspaper clippings.
• Folder 17.04 Eleven briefs, Supreme Court vs. Samuel Sheppard, October 1965.
• Folder 17.05 Miscellaneous expense accounts.

Box 18: F. Lee Bailey

• Folder 18.01 Rough manuscript.
• Folder 18.02 Misc. manuscript notes.
• Folder 18.03 Clean manuscript.

Box 19: The Alchemist
(Early titles for The Alchemist).

• Folder 19.01 The Web of Ouroboros-first draft.
• Folder 19.02 The Web of Ouroboros-second draft.
• Folder 19.03 The Magic Circle-one draft.

Box 20: The Alchemist

• Folder 20.01 One manuscript.
• Folder 20.02 One galley proof.

Box 21: The Alchemist

• Folder 21.01 One early manuscript, not in page order.

Box 22: The Alchemist

• Folder 22.01 Second rough draft.
• Folder 22.02 Vision of Pelicans-(another early draft title) manuscript.

Box 23: The Alchemist

• Folder 23.01 Various stages of rewrite between Doubleday and the final manuscript.

Box 24: The Alchemist

• Folder 24.01 Final galleys.

Box 25: The Alchemist

• Folder 25.01 Final typescript.
• Folder 25.02 Two bound galleys.

Box 26: The Alchemist

• Folder 26.01 Science Fiction magazine.
• Folder 26.02 Copy changes.
• Folder 26.03 Publicity.
• Folder 26.04 Miscellaneous material.

Box 27: Conflict of Interest
(This is the first title of Conflict of Interest.).

• Folder 27.01 The Investigator-original draft.

Box 28: Conflict of Interest

• Folder 28.01 The Investigator-typescript.
• Folder 28.02 The Investigator-second draft.

Box 29: Conflict of Interest

• Folder 29.01 Typesetting copy.
• Folder 29.02 Final galley proof.

Box 30: Conflict of Interest

• Folder 30.01 Reviews and publicity.
• Folder 30.02 Bantam, publisher's publicity.
• Folder 30.03 Correspondence on editing.
• Folder 30.04 Correspondence on editing.
• Folder 30.05 Research on safes.

Box 31: Sometimes A Hero
(The first title of Sometimes A Hero.)

• Folder 31.01 Breakup, first draft, 1976.

Box 32: Sometimes A Hero

• Folder 32.01 Breakup, second draft, 1978.
• Folder 32.02 Some pages, rewritten.

Box 33: Sometimes A Hero

• Folder 33.01 Research.
• Folder 33.02 Research.

Box 34: Sometimes A Hero

• Folder 34.01 Typesetting copy, pages 1-247.
• Folder 34.02 Typesetting copy, pages 248-530.
• Folder 34.03 Typesetting copy, pages 531-817.

Box 35: Sometimes A Hero

• Folder 35.01 Galleys.
• Folder 35.02 Movie treatment.

Box 36: A Killing Pace

• Folder 36.01 Research.
• Folder 36.02 Maps, etc.
• Folder 36.03 More maps.
• Folder 36.04 Negotiations with Morrow Publishers.
• Folder 36.05 Pre-publication material, Doubleday.
• Folder 36.06 Pre-publication material.
• Folder 36.07 Publicity re publication.
• Folder 36.08 Requests for blurbs.
• Folder 36.09 Reviews.

Box 37: A Killing Pace

• Folder 37.01 Final manuscript.
• Folder 37.02 Master proof.

Box 38: A Day Without Sunshine

• Folder 38.01 Research.
• Folder 38.02 Research.
• Folder 38.03 Research.
• Folder 38.04 Synopsis.
• Folder 38.05 Publication, Japanese.
• Folder 38.06 Reviews.

Box 39: A Day Without Sunshine

• Folder 39.01 Typescript.
• Folder 39.02 Original manuscript-1983.
• Folder 39.03 Summary of last 7 chapters.

Box 40: A Day Without Sunshine

• Folder 40.01 Printer's manuscript.
• Folder 40.02 Master galleys.

Box 41: Fighting Violent Crime in America
(According to Whitten, although this book's author is given as Ronald S. Lauder, much of it was written by Les Whitten, and he was paid $32,000 for the writing that he did.)

• Folder 41.01 First manuscript.
• Folder 41.02 Second manuscript.

Box 42: Fighting Violent Crime

• Folder 42.01 Research.
• Folder 42.02 Rag bond master copy.

Box 43: Reviews and Promotions of Books and Short Stories

• Folder 43.01 The Alchemist.
• Folder 43.02 F. Lee Bailey.
• Folder 43.03 Baudelaire.
• Folder 43.04 Curtis Brown-agent.
• Folder 43.05 Conflict of Interest.
• Folder 43.06 "Day of the Monkeys" (also called "The Zoo").
• Folder 43.07 Moon of the Wolf.
• Folder 43.08 Movie rights for books.
• Folder 43.09 Pinion, the Golden Eagle.
• Folder 43.10 Progeny of the Adder.
• Folder 43.11 Sometimes a Hero.
• Folder 43.12 Washington Cycle.

Box 44: Short Stories and Articles

• Folder 44.01 "The Catch".
• Folder 44.02 "Danilo's Lie"-1958 (unpublished).
• Folder 44.03 "Day of the Monkey"-also called "The Zoo".
• Folder 44.04 "The Disciple".
• Folder 44.05 "Fishermen".
• Folder 44.06 "The Manfish".
• Folder 44.07 "Nineteen for Forty" (unpublished).
• Folder 44.08 "Prison Poets" and article about them (unpublished).
• Folder 44.09 "The Whistle Blowers"-1972.
• Folder 44.10 "To Mister the Dead" (unpublished).
• Folder 44.11 Miscellaneous pages of stories.

Box 45: empty for later material

Box 46: Poems

• Folder 46.01 Poems.
• Folder 46.02 Poems.
• Folder 46.03 Correspondence about poetry.

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