Editing Irving Stone

{{short description|American writer (1903–1989)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2013}}
{{distinguish|Irving I. Stone}}
{{infobox writer
|name=Irving Stone
|birth_name=Irving Tennenbaum
|birth_date={{birth date|1903|7|14}}
|birth_place=[[San Francisco]], [[California]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1989|8|26|1903|7|14}}
|death_place=[[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
|occupation=Writer
|education=[[University of California, Berkeley]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
|spouse=Lona Mosk (divorced)<br>Jean Factor
}}
'''Irving Stone''' (born '''Tennenbaum''';<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_6915380/|title=Irving Stone papers, 1945-1985|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=December 12, 2015|archive-date=December 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229080803/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/archival/collections/ldpd_6915380/|url-status=dead}}</ref> July 14, 1903 – August 26, 1989) was an American writer, chiefly known for his [[biographical novel]]s of noted artists, politicians, and intellectuals. Among the best known are ''[[Lust for Life (novel)|Lust for Life]]'' (1934), about the life of [[Vincent van Gogh]], and ''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (novel)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]'' (1961), about [[Michelangelo]].

== Biography ==

Born Irving Tennenbaum in [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], he was seven when his parents divorced. By the time he was a senior in high school, his mother had remarried. He legally changed his last name to "Stone", his stepfather's surname. Stone said his mother instilled a passion for reading in him. From then on, he believed that education was the only way to succeed in life.

In 1923, Stone received his bachelor's degree from the [[University of California, Berkeley]].  After receiving his M.A. there, he worked as a teaching assistant in English. He met his first wife, Lona Mosk (1905–1965), who was a student at the university. On money provided by her father, Los Angeles businessman Ernest Mosk, the young couple went to Paris.

Irving and Lona Stone returned to the United States in the 1930s from Europe, where he had been researching Van Gogh for six months. In 1930 he received a letter from Dr. Felix Rey, who had treated Van Gogh after the artist cut off his own ear in December 1888. Rey, who was the subject of a portrait painting by Van Gogh, became Stone's friend; he confirmed that Van Gogh's whole ear was removed and not only the earlobe. As reported in the ''NY Times'' obituary of Stone on August 28, 1989, the Stones resided in New York's [[Greenwich Village]] where Irving finished ''Lust for Life'', the biographical novel about Van Gogh that set his career in motion. According to the ''Times'', ''Lust for Life'' (the title suggested by his first wife) was rejected by seventeen publishers over three years before being published in 1934.

Stone began a relationship with his secretary, Jean Factor, and after he and Lona were divorced, he and Jean married. This later marriage lasted until Stone's death in Los Angeles in 1989. Jean Stone died in 2004, aged 93.

During their years together, Jean Stone edited many of his books. The Stones lived primarily in Los Angeles. They funded a [[foundation (charity)|foundation]] to support a number of charitable causes.

When at home, Stone relied upon the research facilities and expertise made available to him by Esther Euler, chief research librarian at the [[University of California at Los Angeles]]. He dedicated books to her and thanked her in several of his works.

According to his afterword in ''Lust for Life,'' Stone relied on Van Gogh's letters to his brother, art dealer [[Theo van Gogh (art dealer)|Theo]]. Stone additionally did much of his research "in the field." For example, he spent many years living in Italy while working on ''The Agony and the Ecstasy,'' a novel about Michelangelo Buonarroti. In his introduction to The Origin, Stone documents that he and his wife lived for a while at Down House (Darwin's home for the final forty years of his life) during the research and writing of that book. The Italian government lauded Stone with several honorary [[awards]] during this period for his cultural achievements highlighting Italian history.

== Non-fiction books ==

Although he was best known for his novels, Stone also wrote a number of non-fiction books.  His biography of [[Clarence Darrow]], ''Clarence Darrow For the Defense'', about the attorney known both for his defense of thrill killers [[Leopold and Loeb]] and his defense of John T. Scopes in the 1925 [[Scopes trial|Scopes "Monkey" Trial]] (the trial of a biology teacher who taught about evolution in Tennessee), was published in 1941. His biography  ''[[Earl Warren]]'', about the California governor and later [[Chief Justice of the United States]], was published in 1948.

== Film adaptations ==

The 1941 film, ''[[Arkansas Judge]]'', starring [[Roy Rogers]], was based on Stone's 1940 novel ''False Witness''.

In 1953, a popular film version was made of ''[[The President's Lady]]'', based on Stone's 1951 novel of the same name, starring [[Charlton Heston]] as [[Andrew Jackson]] and [[Susan Hayward]] as [[Rachel Jackson|Rachel Donelson Jackson]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F05E7DC163DE23BBC4A51DFB3668388649EDE |title=Tribute to Jackson and His Wife |date=May 22, 1953 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/28/obituaries/irving-stone-author-of-lust-for-life-dies-at-86.html |title=Irving Stone, Author of 'Lust for Life,' Dies at 86 |last=Krebs |first=Albin |date= August 28, 1989 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref>

In 1956, a film version was made of ''[[Lust for Life (1956 movie)|Lust for Life]]'', based on his 1934 novel, starring [[Kirk Douglas]] as Van Gogh.

In 1965, a film was made of ''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]'', starring [[Charlton Heston]] as Michelangelo and [[Rex Harrison]] as [[Pope Julius II]].

Stone's 1975 book, ''The Greek Treasure'', was the basis for the German television production ''[[:de:Der geheimnisvolle Schatz von Troja|Der geheimnisvolle Schatz von Troja]]'' (''Hunt for Troy'', 2007).

== Legacy and honors ==

* 1956 Spur Award (Nonfiction) for ''Men to Match My Mountains''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://westernwriters.org/winners/#a1956 |title=Past winners |work=Western Writers of America |date=May 12, 2012 |access-date=July 28, 2017 |archive-date=October 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019071040/http://westernwriters.org/winners/#a1956 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* 1960 Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Berkeley, his alma mater.<ref>[http://ls.berkeley.edu/?q=alumni/meet-our-alumni "Meet Our Alumni: Irving Stone"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610142323/http://ls.berkeley.edu/?q=alumni%2Fmeet-our-alumni |date=June 10, 2010 }}, University of California at Berkeley</ref>
* 1961 [[Commonwealth Club of California#California Book Awards|Commonwealth Club of California Book Awards]] (Fiction, Silver) for ''The Agony and the Ecstasy ''
* 1971 Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]]<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==

=== Fiction ===

*  ''Pageant of Youth'' (1933) - Irving Stone's first novel, focussing on student Ray Sharpe at the fictional Stockley University in California, but which, in essence, is a semi-autobiographical account of the author's own undergraduate experience at Berkeley
* ''[[Lust for Life (novel)|Lust for Life]]'' (1934) – [[Historical fiction|Historical novel]] based on the life of [[Vincent van Gogh]]
* ''Sailor on Horseback'' (1938) - Historical novel based on the life of [[Jack London]]
* ''False Witness'' (1940) - A novel set in a small farming community of Mission Valley, which inspired the 1941 movie Arkansas Judge starring Roy Rogers
* ''[[Immortal Wife]]'' (1944) – Historical novel based on the life of [[Jessie Benton Frémont]]
* ''[[Adversary in the House]]'' (1947) – Historical novel based on the life of [[Eugene V. Debs]] and his wife Kate, who opposed [[socialism]]<ref>Kate Debs seemed to have been so hostile to Debs's socialist activities – it threatened her sense of middle-class respectability – that novelist Irving Stone was led to call her, in the title of his fictional portrayal of the life of Debs, the ''Adversary in the House''. (Daniel Bell, ''Marxian Socialism in the United States'', footnote on page 88)</ref>
* ''The Passionate Journey'' (1949) – Historical novel based on the life of American artist [[John Noble (painter)|John Noble]]
* ''[[The President's Lady]]'' (1951) – Historical novel based on the life of American president [[Andrew Jackson]] and his marriage to [[Rachel Jackson|Rachel Donelson Jackson]]
* ''Love is Eternal'' (1954) – Historical novel based on the marriage of [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Mary Todd]]
* Men to Match My Mountains (1956) About the men who braved the wilderness to bring the nation to the far west 
* ''[[The Agony and the Ecstasy (novel)|The Agony and the Ecstasy]]'' – (1961) – Historical novel based on the life of [[Michelangelo]]
* ''[[Those Who Love (novel)|Those Who Love]]'' (1965) – Historical novel based on the life of [[John Adams]] and [[Abigail Adams]]
* ''[[Passions of the Mind|The Passions of the Mind]]'' (1971) – Historical novel based on the life of [[Sigmund Freud]]
* ''The Greek Treasure'' (1975) – Historical novel based on the discovery of Troy by [[Heinrich Schliemann]] and his wife [[Sophia Schliemann|Sophia]]
* ''[[The Origin (novel)|The Origin]]'' (1980) – Historical novel based on the life of [[Charles Darwin]]
* ''Depths of Glory'' (1985) – Historical novel based on the life of [[Camille Pissarro]]

''Lust for Life'' and ''Immortal Wife'' were published as [[Armed Services Edition]]s during WWII.

=== Non-fiction ===

* ''Clarence Darrow For the Defense'' (1941) – biography of [[Clarence Darrow]]
* ''[[They Also Ran]]'' (1943, updated 1966) – analysis of [[candidates]] for U.S. president who were defeated
* ''Earl Warren'' (1948) – biography of [[Earl Warren]]
* ''Men to Match My Mountains'' (1956) – account of the opening of the [[American Old West]], 1840–1900

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}

* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt067nc3q6/ Guide to the Irving Stone Papers] at [[The Bancroft Library]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlhn_Kxgm8g Irving Stone] video interview on ''[[Day at Night]]'', PBS, April 23, 1974
* {{Internet Archive author |sname= Irving Stone}}
{{Irving Stone}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Irving}}
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:American historical novelists]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Southern California alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American biographers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male biographers]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
[[Category:Writers from San Francisco]]