The second of a series: Three Forteans in name only.
Tiffany Thayer was, among other things, a collector. He collected first issues of small magazines. He collected pamphlets. And, as the Canadian Theosophist said in a perfect capsule epitome of Thayer’s whole Fortean project: “The Fortean Society bids fair to become the greatest aggregation of Academic Cranks the world has known.” Three of those named by the Canadian Theosophist as evidence of Thayer’s plan are the subject of this posting: George Seldes, Norman Thomas, and Manly P. Hall. They all appeared in The Fortean Society Magazine or Doubt, with an MFS attached to their name—Member of the Fortean Society—but seemed inactive, unconcerned with Thayer or his aggregation of academic cranks. Indeed, they seem to have been more-or-less appointed to the Society because they were themselves academic cranks, and they continued their own work without much regard for the Society. They were Forteans in name only.
Norman Thomas is closely linked, in Fortean terms, to the journalist George Seldes. But Thomas may have been more involved with the Society than Seldes ever was—even if he didn’t pay dues.
Norman Mattoon Thomas was born 20 November 1884 in Marion, Ohio, son of a Presbyterian minister. He graduated from Princeton University in 1905, worked some, and then became a Presbyterian Minister himself, ministering to Italian-American protestants in Harlem. He was a pacifist and became a lion of the socialist movement. Eventually, he would run for president six times on the Socialist ticket. Although at times appreciative of communists, he kept socialism distinct. He only warily accepted the U.S.’s involvement in World War II, and was strongly critical of the internment of Japanese citizens. He wrote many, many books.
Norman Thomas died in 1968.
Tiffany Thayer was, among other things, a collector. He collected first issues of small magazines. He collected pamphlets. And, as the Canadian Theosophist said in a perfect capsule epitome of Thayer’s whole Fortean project: “The Fortean Society bids fair to become the greatest aggregation of Academic Cranks the world has known.” Three of those named by the Canadian Theosophist as evidence of Thayer’s plan are the subject of this posting: George Seldes, Norman Thomas, and Manly P. Hall. They all appeared in The Fortean Society Magazine or Doubt, with an MFS attached to their name—Member of the Fortean Society—but seemed inactive, unconcerned with Thayer or his aggregation of academic cranks. Indeed, they seem to have been more-or-less appointed to the Society because they were themselves academic cranks, and they continued their own work without much regard for the Society. They were Forteans in name only.
Norman Thomas is closely linked, in Fortean terms, to the journalist George Seldes. But Thomas may have been more involved with the Society than Seldes ever was—even if he didn’t pay dues.
Norman Mattoon Thomas was born 20 November 1884 in Marion, Ohio, son of a Presbyterian minister. He graduated from Princeton University in 1905, worked some, and then became a Presbyterian Minister himself, ministering to Italian-American protestants in Harlem. He was a pacifist and became a lion of the socialist movement. Eventually, he would run for president six times on the Socialist ticket. Although at times appreciative of communists, he kept socialism distinct. He only warily accepted the U.S.’s involvement in World War II, and was strongly critical of the internment of Japanese citizens. He wrote many, many books.
Norman Thomas died in 1968.
As was the case with Seldes, Thomas’s introduction to the Fortean community was Thayer recommending a newspaper associated with him, The Call. Thayer wrote int he 7th issue of his own magazine a column titled “Five Papers You Should Read”:
“All Forteans will find a great deal of interest in these five periodicals, all published in New York City:
The CALL (weekly) 303 Fourth Avenue $1.50 a year
IN FACT (weekly) 19 University Place $1.00 a year
BULLETIN (monthly) 317 East 34th St. $1.00 a year
TRUTH SEEKER (monthly) 38 Park Row $1.50 a year
CONSUMER’S COOPERATION 167 West 12th St. $1.00 a year
“Your Secretary regrets that he cannot steer you to an honest daily. He has tried to find one. How he has tried! . . . In this connection, if any Fortean knows of a readable daily newspaper being published today, he can do the Society, mankind, the world no greater service than to spread its fame far and wide. . . . What a commentary that is upon us as a people and upon this civilization that nowhere is a daily newspaper telling the truth today.” [Ellipses in original.]
Thomas was an Accepted Fellow of the Fortean Society, which was one of several categories of membership Thayer established. Accepted Fellows were those to whom Thayer had offered Fellowship—and membership—and who had accepted. (There were many who declined.) When Founders of the Society died—and that category itself is quite contentious—Thayer reserved the right to elevate an “Honorary Founder” as a successor. By the mid-1940s, he had decided that there should always be 11 Founders. All Honorary Founders were drawn from the list of Accepted Fellows. Thayer included Thomas on the list of Accepted Fellows in his pamphlet “The Fortean Society is the Red Cross of the Human Mind,” as well as in the pages of Doubt 15 (Summer 1946, page 222). Later, Thayer would lose some of his enthusiasm for the various categories of membership, and not bother so much with filling positions.
All of this only means that Thayer once wrote to Thomas and Thomas, or someone on his staff, agreed to become a Fellow of the Fortean Society. He didn’t even need to pay dues for the honor. There is one credit to a Thomas, regarding a mysterious object seen in the heavens above the Mid-West [Doubt 11, Winter 1944-45, 154.] Likely, though, this was another Thomas, Jennie Selby, but it is ever so possible that the Norman Thomas sent a clipping to Thayer.
And it is true that Thomas caught the attention of at least a couple of other Forteans. Mary Winthrop Bonavia was a very (very) active Fortean member. Among the vast pile of material she sent Thayer was included a copy of her correspondence to Thomas. The subject matter of that letter, though, is unknown. James Blish, the science fiction author, also had an affection for Thomas—which speaks to his own muddled politics. Fascism appealed to him, at least in theory, but in 1948 he was for the Socialist candidate. After noting that Harry Truman was a Philistine when it came to modern art, he advocated in his ‘zine Tumbrils “Vote for Norman Thomas.” That was the last time Thomas ran for president.
Thayer had an ambivalent view of Thomas, just as he had of Seldes: he appreciated that Thomas spoke truth to power and stood opposed to the giant institutions that seemed poised to control every minutiae of daily life, but also found him too compromised. In the same article that he used to call out Seldes—“Who Is Our Friend?,” The Fortean 10, Autumn 1944, pp. 140-141—Thayer also ripped into Thomas. As mentioned before, Thayer began the article by noting that the papers of Selde and Thomas were of interest to Forteans, as was Lafollette’s Progressive, although the latter was not associated with the Fortean Society in any way. But he was worried about the direction that Seldes and Thomas were going:
“This note concerns the two Forteans, both of whom write books. The Society is happy to supply their books to any who may be interested. The writings of both men are professedly humanitarian by intention, but Your Secretary is forced to question their bona fides as such, at least as concerns George Seldes’ The Vatican ($2.50) and Norman Thomas’ What Is Our Destiny (no question mark).
…..
What Is Our Destiny (no question mark), Doubleday Doran, $2.0 purports to examine, among other things, ‘How We Got Into War,’ ‘Peace Plans and World Constitutions,’ ‘A Domestic Policy for Our Democracy,’ from the standpoint (one would fondly hope) of a man who has been rotten-egged more than once for speaking his mind in public. In Fortean fellowship, the most charitable thing Your Secretary can say of this opus is that Mr. Thomas can read it aloud to Frank Hague in the man’s own parlor (or kitchen) without even tempting that politician or any of his hired help to test their egg-throwing marksmanship. The book is all sound—no fury. Something has gone out of Thomas. He does not steal Will Rogers’ line, but he exemplifies it, viz.: all the author of that book knows is what he reads in the papers. It is a pussy-footing, mealy-mouthed, ineffectual performance—a disgrace to a leader of men and to one who for years has been the object of widespread veneration, the inheritor of the bloodied mantle of Eugene V. Debs. Not once in its entire length does he even hint at the true ‘cause’ of this so-called ‘war,’ not once does he challenge the world planners of the future with the charge of lip-service only in their sanctimonious, fraudulent, hypocritical pretense of planning for lasting peace.
“While millions of men and women look to these two men, Seldes and Thomas, for LEADERSHIP—now if ever—they set up rival tootlings like twin pied pipers of Hamelin.
“What is our destiny—question mark—Mr. Thomas?”
From the review, it is hard to pin down exactly what troubled Thayer so, but it is fair to guess that it was Thomas’s wary support of World War II and the possibility of enduring, progressive institutions emerging from the wreckage. Just as important, though, the condemnation reveals one of Thayer’s tendencies: to turn on those he once championed. He thought Thomas might be a leader. But there he was, not leading—rather appeasing Frank Hague, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Just another politician, then.
Thomas’s fall from Fortean grace was completed in December 1948 (Doubt 23). Thayer had been getting hammered from Eric Frank Russell on the matter of Ben Hecht, who was a founder of the Society and also had recently re-found his Jewish ethnicity. Hecht supported the foundation of an Israeli state and cheered on Jewish terrorists who, in their fight, had killed a number of British people in Palestine. Thayer refused to kick out Hecht—Forteanism was about being a crank and taking unpopular positions, after all—but he finally wrote a piece condemning Hecht’s position, hoping to appease Russell. As an addendum, he included a column titled “More renunciations”:
“Because of their public acts subsequent to being honored by the Fortean Society, we take this means of disavowing Fortean support for the published opinions of--
“Ben Hecht
“James Burnham
“Norman Thomas
“Taylor Caldwell.”
So Thomas never did more than respond positively to an honor Thayer offered—and soon enough, Thayer was remorseful that he had even offered the honor. Norman Thomas was a Fortean in name only.
“All Forteans will find a great deal of interest in these five periodicals, all published in New York City:
The CALL (weekly) 303 Fourth Avenue $1.50 a year
IN FACT (weekly) 19 University Place $1.00 a year
BULLETIN (monthly) 317 East 34th St. $1.00 a year
TRUTH SEEKER (monthly) 38 Park Row $1.50 a year
CONSUMER’S COOPERATION 167 West 12th St. $1.00 a year
“Your Secretary regrets that he cannot steer you to an honest daily. He has tried to find one. How he has tried! . . . In this connection, if any Fortean knows of a readable daily newspaper being published today, he can do the Society, mankind, the world no greater service than to spread its fame far and wide. . . . What a commentary that is upon us as a people and upon this civilization that nowhere is a daily newspaper telling the truth today.” [Ellipses in original.]
Thomas was an Accepted Fellow of the Fortean Society, which was one of several categories of membership Thayer established. Accepted Fellows were those to whom Thayer had offered Fellowship—and membership—and who had accepted. (There were many who declined.) When Founders of the Society died—and that category itself is quite contentious—Thayer reserved the right to elevate an “Honorary Founder” as a successor. By the mid-1940s, he had decided that there should always be 11 Founders. All Honorary Founders were drawn from the list of Accepted Fellows. Thayer included Thomas on the list of Accepted Fellows in his pamphlet “The Fortean Society is the Red Cross of the Human Mind,” as well as in the pages of Doubt 15 (Summer 1946, page 222). Later, Thayer would lose some of his enthusiasm for the various categories of membership, and not bother so much with filling positions.
All of this only means that Thayer once wrote to Thomas and Thomas, or someone on his staff, agreed to become a Fellow of the Fortean Society. He didn’t even need to pay dues for the honor. There is one credit to a Thomas, regarding a mysterious object seen in the heavens above the Mid-West [Doubt 11, Winter 1944-45, 154.] Likely, though, this was another Thomas, Jennie Selby, but it is ever so possible that the Norman Thomas sent a clipping to Thayer.
And it is true that Thomas caught the attention of at least a couple of other Forteans. Mary Winthrop Bonavia was a very (very) active Fortean member. Among the vast pile of material she sent Thayer was included a copy of her correspondence to Thomas. The subject matter of that letter, though, is unknown. James Blish, the science fiction author, also had an affection for Thomas—which speaks to his own muddled politics. Fascism appealed to him, at least in theory, but in 1948 he was for the Socialist candidate. After noting that Harry Truman was a Philistine when it came to modern art, he advocated in his ‘zine Tumbrils “Vote for Norman Thomas.” That was the last time Thomas ran for president.
Thayer had an ambivalent view of Thomas, just as he had of Seldes: he appreciated that Thomas spoke truth to power and stood opposed to the giant institutions that seemed poised to control every minutiae of daily life, but also found him too compromised. In the same article that he used to call out Seldes—“Who Is Our Friend?,” The Fortean 10, Autumn 1944, pp. 140-141—Thayer also ripped into Thomas. As mentioned before, Thayer began the article by noting that the papers of Selde and Thomas were of interest to Forteans, as was Lafollette’s Progressive, although the latter was not associated with the Fortean Society in any way. But he was worried about the direction that Seldes and Thomas were going:
“This note concerns the two Forteans, both of whom write books. The Society is happy to supply their books to any who may be interested. The writings of both men are professedly humanitarian by intention, but Your Secretary is forced to question their bona fides as such, at least as concerns George Seldes’ The Vatican ($2.50) and Norman Thomas’ What Is Our Destiny (no question mark).
…..
What Is Our Destiny (no question mark), Doubleday Doran, $2.0 purports to examine, among other things, ‘How We Got Into War,’ ‘Peace Plans and World Constitutions,’ ‘A Domestic Policy for Our Democracy,’ from the standpoint (one would fondly hope) of a man who has been rotten-egged more than once for speaking his mind in public. In Fortean fellowship, the most charitable thing Your Secretary can say of this opus is that Mr. Thomas can read it aloud to Frank Hague in the man’s own parlor (or kitchen) without even tempting that politician or any of his hired help to test their egg-throwing marksmanship. The book is all sound—no fury. Something has gone out of Thomas. He does not steal Will Rogers’ line, but he exemplifies it, viz.: all the author of that book knows is what he reads in the papers. It is a pussy-footing, mealy-mouthed, ineffectual performance—a disgrace to a leader of men and to one who for years has been the object of widespread veneration, the inheritor of the bloodied mantle of Eugene V. Debs. Not once in its entire length does he even hint at the true ‘cause’ of this so-called ‘war,’ not once does he challenge the world planners of the future with the charge of lip-service only in their sanctimonious, fraudulent, hypocritical pretense of planning for lasting peace.
“While millions of men and women look to these two men, Seldes and Thomas, for LEADERSHIP—now if ever—they set up rival tootlings like twin pied pipers of Hamelin.
“What is our destiny—question mark—Mr. Thomas?”
From the review, it is hard to pin down exactly what troubled Thayer so, but it is fair to guess that it was Thomas’s wary support of World War II and the possibility of enduring, progressive institutions emerging from the wreckage. Just as important, though, the condemnation reveals one of Thayer’s tendencies: to turn on those he once championed. He thought Thomas might be a leader. But there he was, not leading—rather appeasing Frank Hague, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Just another politician, then.
Thomas’s fall from Fortean grace was completed in December 1948 (Doubt 23). Thayer had been getting hammered from Eric Frank Russell on the matter of Ben Hecht, who was a founder of the Society and also had recently re-found his Jewish ethnicity. Hecht supported the foundation of an Israeli state and cheered on Jewish terrorists who, in their fight, had killed a number of British people in Palestine. Thayer refused to kick out Hecht—Forteanism was about being a crank and taking unpopular positions, after all—but he finally wrote a piece condemning Hecht’s position, hoping to appease Russell. As an addendum, he included a column titled “More renunciations”:
“Because of their public acts subsequent to being honored by the Fortean Society, we take this means of disavowing Fortean support for the published opinions of--
“Ben Hecht
“James Burnham
“Norman Thomas
“Taylor Caldwell.”
So Thomas never did more than respond positively to an honor Thayer offered—and soon enough, Thayer was remorseful that he had even offered the honor. Norman Thomas was a Fortean in name only.
