“Jack Rittenhouse: A Western Literary Life,” is the first biography of the pioneering writer, printer, publisher, Western historian, antiquarian bookman, and chronicler of the golden age of Route 66.The biography’s author, Santa Fe-based David R. Farmer, will be talking about the book October 22nd at New Mexico State University, which is also the home to a vast archive of Rittenhouse papers. Scott Brocato recently spoke to David Farmer about his book and upcoming talk.
Scott Brocato:
Can you start by talking a little bit about your own literary background?
David R. Farmer:
Well, I went to graduate school at UT Austin, and while I was working on the doctorate, I realized that where I really wanted to be was somewhere surrounded by rare books. So I finished the PhD. I did teach and I wrote, but what I did in terms of my career was to move into the administration of rare book libraries. And it was a charmed world for me. And that's how I met Jack Rittenhouse later, because he was at the end of his life an antiquarian bookseller. But it was just...it was a career that I was cut out for and it was for me.
Scott Brocato:
Well, apparently it was for him, for Jack Rittenhouse. He certainly was a collector of books, which brings us to your latest book about Jack, "Jack Rittenhouse: A Western Literary Life." So for those who have never heard of Jack Rittenhouse--you touched upon a couple of things about him--talk about who he was and his own literary contributions.
David R. Farmer:
He was a man who early on got hooked on books. As a kid learning how to read like four or five years old, they were teaching him with the phonics system, and it just clicked. It made sense. This is how words are put together, and this is how we learn about their meaning. And so here we go, let's get started reading!
And so as a kid, he used to go to the library and check out books that were of interest to him. And as he moved into his career, he stayed--even though he worked in the advertising world for a number of years--he was still working with books and collecting books and getting ready to write books.
And here in New Mexico, what he did was when he moved out here in the 60s, he was printing. He had a press and a publishing entity called Stagecoach Press.
Scott Brocato:
Let's talk about his Route 66 book. "A Guide Book to Highway 66" is the full title. He was the first person, correct, to write a guidebook 20 years after the route was completed?
David R. Farmer:
Yes.
Scott Brocato:
Well, talk about that book and that guide and how important it was to the Route 66 phenomenon.
David R. Farmer:
Scott, he was thinking ahead. He was always planning and looking at what opportunities there were to offer to people: good writing and good history. And he had been on Route 66 during the war. And after the end of the war, he realized, 1946, he realized, you know, there are going to be a lot of people using this route. And so he started working on a book which is still in print--UNM Press--as this is its 80th birthday this year, but it turned out to be the first complete book about Route 66.
He published it himself. It was hard to market because it was a self-published book. And at that time, there was no internet. You had to get out there and hustle. And he was able to sell about 2,000 copies. And since UNM Press picked it up, they have kept it in print. And it is very popular: 50,000 copies they have sold of this little book.
And it's fun to read! My wife and I take it whenever we're out on (Route) 66, we take it because we see exit signs. There may not be anything at that exit anymore, but the name, the place names are up there. And you can open his little book, go to that point and read about what was there. And it just adds to the dimension. to the trip.
And this is, by the way, the 100th anniversary of the naming of the route. A lot of celebrations going on this year, up and down from Chicago to LA.
Scott Brocato:
You're going to be here at NMSU on the 22nd for a talk. Talk about the talk. You're going to be talking about the book, I assume, the Jack Rittenhouse book that you wrote?
David R. Farmer:
Scott, I am. And one of things that I'm going to do is to talk about the collection there at NMSU in the special collections in the library. It is Jack's archive. It was 62 boxes of material that my wife and I went through as we were starting research for this book. And it was just magical. One of the things that they knew we were coming, I'd made arrangements, and one of the first things they put on the table in front of us were diaries that Jack had kept when he was in his 20s. And he didn't keep that up, but there were a number of diaries, five or six, that gave us the flavor of the way he thought, the way he worked.
So what I'm going to be doing at NMSU is to talk about doing the research for the book and then some of what we found, because he really had multiple careers. He wanted to work in the publishing world in New York, but he had dropped out of college during the Depression, and they weren't going to hire anybody without a college degree. So he had to go and make his own way. And he did it.
Scott Brocato:
You said you met him toward the end of his life. What was he like?
David R. Farmer:
He was rather quiet. He smoked a pipe. He'd been smoking a pipe since he was in his early 20s. And it was one of his characteristics. Everybody who knew Jack Rittenhouse knew there was going to be a pipe going. He was quiet, very thoughtful. He listened well. And his breadth of knowledge about the West, about the American West, and the books that hold so much information about the West, it was just legendary.
And he was wonderful to talk with because he had anecdotes, he had accurate information, and he wanted to know your story, too. So he was a man who really interacted with people in a very, very easy way. And he shared his knowledge. It was a pretty remarkable character at work there. And his bookseller catalogs were just legendary, too. He was considered the dean of antiquarian bookmen in New Mexico. And it was, I think, well earned.
Scott Brocato:
Your book is "Jack Rittenhouse: A Western Literary Life." You'll be here to talk about that and more on October 22nd here at NMSU. David Farmer, is there anything else you would like to add to our talk that we haven't discussed yet?
David R. Farmer:
Well, I'd just add that knowing what Jack Rittenhouse wrote and knowing his love for the West makes travel in this part of the country just a richer experience. And so that's if folks get connected with him through a biography, then there's more to read. And I include that in the back of the book.
David R. Farmer will be discussing his book, "Jack Rittenhouse: A Western Literary Life," Thursday October 22nd at 4:30pm in NMSU's Branson Library.
