Writer E.B. White fired by The Seattle Times exactly 101 years ago today

Before he wrote Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, writer E.B. White worked the metro desk at the Seattle Times, only to be fired on June 19, 1923.

He was only 24.

A graduate of Cornell University, he would work with United Press and the American Legion News Service before coming to Seattle.

According to the Seattle Times, White said about his time with the Times, “I operated, generally, on too high a level for routine reporting, and had not at that time discovered the eloquence of facts. I can see why the Times fired me. A youth who persisted in rising above facts must have been a headache to a city editor.”

According to a book of quotations by Joesph Sutton, White asked his editor at the Seattle Times how he could get past writer’s block. His editor thought for a few moments and said, “Just say the words.”

According to History Link, White said his time in Seattle was spent “studying girls” and swimming alone at night “in the canal that connects Lake Union and Lake Washington.” He would stay up until two or three in the morning.

He returned to New York City and became a writer for The New Yorker. He then authored the well-known children’s books Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little.

White died on October 1, 1985, from complications due to Alzheimer’s disease.

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