Katherine Anne Porter Remembered

Kathryn Adams Sexton

7 / kathryn adams sexton Kathryn Adams sexton (1916–91) earned a b.f.A. and a b.A. from the University of Oklahoma in 1937 and 1938, respectively. for her m.A. thesis at the University of colorado at boulder, she drew upon available materials in denver, conducting interviews with persons who knew Katherine Anne Porter in 1918 and 1919, compiling a list of Porter’s articles published in the Rocky Mountain News, and using directories and local histories to construct the social climate of Porter’s year and a half in colorado. Later sexton was an english professor at Panhandle state University in Goodwell, Oklahoma, and in 1979 she published A Heritage of the Panhandle. source: Kathryn Adams sexton, “Katherine Anne Porter’s years in denver,” unpublished m.A. thesis, U of colorado, 1961, 14, 16–21, 24. miss Porter came to denver from texas sometime during the latter part of the year 1918.40 [. . .] While in denver this young journalist made her home in a rooming house at 1510 york street. [. . .] in describing miss Porter as she appeared during her years in denver, [her co-worker Helen black . . .] remembers her as a “glamorous figure” whom she “worshipped.” she also recalls that miss Porter was the epitome of southern femininity, one who was to be looked up to. she always dressed attractively and in good taste, mostly in gray; and because miss Porter was of small stature, [. . .] she always looked well dressed. [margaret] Harvey [another co-worker] remembers the miss Porter of 1918 as a glamorous and intriguing person, one whom a passerby would stop to take a second glance at, particularly because she constantly talked with her hands and eyes, large blue ones that danced and sparkled as she expressed herself. miss Harvey, too, remembers the gray which she wore frequently, especially the gray or black hood which covered her glistening black hair. in a short time, however, miss Porter’s hair turned white and came out as a result of an attack of influenza which she had in the latter part of 1918.41 during this period, according to miss Harvey, miss Porter wore the gray or black hood constantly. When her hair 30 / Katherine Anne Porter remembered came in, it was curly and of a lighter shade. [thomas Hornsby ferril, a reporter for the Denver Times, the staff of which shared office space with the staff of the Rocky Mountain News, had a desk next to Porter’s. He remembers her] as a very good-looking young lady—the short, “baby dollish” type.42 At the time that this attractive young reporter worked for the Rocky Mountain News, the paper was housed in a [once impressive] building at 1720 Welton street [. . .]. miss black says that she remembers the building in 1918 as more like a “barn” than a handsome structure. she says that the floors were constantly strewn with papers, and a bucket of water and a mop were necessary equipment to put out frequent fires. the rooms on the second floor were equipped with old furniture , and in order to reach the editorial room one had to climb steep and narrow steps [. . .]. [i]n addition to the long dangerous climb one also had to cut his way through the smoke that filled the stairway from the editorial room. miss Harvey, too, comments on the flight of steps, saying that a person had only to climb them a few times to remember them for years. Located near the News building was the Greasy spoon, the reporters’ favorite hangout during office hours. it was in this setting that miss Porter earned her livelihood while in denver. Her salary was eighteen dollars a week. for a vivacious young reporter who desired luxuries, [. . .] this salary was inadequate.to supplement the eighteen dollars per week, miss Porter originated the shopping column “Let’s shop with suzanne!” and sold ads for the column. the first of these full-page shopping ads appeared in the dramatic section of the sunday paper, June 8, 1919, and continued in the sunday papers through August 17, 1919, under miss Porter’s management [. . .]. in this setting miss Porter became a noted journalist. Her co-workers regarded her as a good writer, a reputation which according to miss Harvey, she established early in her career at the News.the deadline on news stories for the sunday paper was thursday night, and miss Harvey says, “Katherine Anne wrote so rapidly; she could actually dash off her column while...