George P. Putnam | |
|---|---|
 Putnam in 1931 | |
| Born | George Palmer Putnam (1887-09-07)September 7, 1887 Rye, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 4, 1950(1950-01-04) (aged 62) Trona, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | John Bishop Putnam |
George Palmer Putnam (September 7, 1887 – January 4, 1950) was an American publisher, writer, and explorer. Known for his marriage to (and being thewidower of)Amelia Earhart, he also achieved fame as one of the most successful promoters in the United States during the 1930s.
George Palmer Putnam was born inRye, New York on September 7, 1887, the son ofJohn Bishop Putnam and the grandson of his namesake,George Palmer Putnam, founder of the prominent publishing firm that becameG. P. Putnam's Sons. He studied atHarvard University and theUniversity of California, Berkeley.
In 1911, Putnam marriedDorothy Binney (1888–1982), the daughter ofEdwin Binney, inventor and co-owner, with cousinC. Harold Smith, ofBinney & Smith Inc., the company that madeCrayola crayons. They had two sons, David Binney Putnam (1913–1992) and George Palmer Putnam Jr. (1921–2013), and for a time lived inBend, Oregon, where Putnam was the publisher and editor of the local newspaper, theBend Bulletin. He was mayor of Bend from 1912 to 1913. Putnam left Bend in 1915 to become the private secretary to Oregon GovernorJames Withycombe.[1]
Within a few years, George and Dorothy moved to theEast Coast, where Putnam entered the family publishing business in New York City.
DuringWorld War I, Putnam served with theUnited States Army field artillery. In 1926, under the sponsorship of theAmerican Museum of Natural History, he led an expedition to theArctic, up the west coast ofGreenland. The following year he headed another expedition for theAmerican Geographical Society to collect wildlife specimens onBaffin Island.
In July 1927 Putnam was responsible for the blockbuster publication of"WE",Charles Lindbergh's autobiographical account of his early life and hisOrteig Prize winning non-stop transatlantic solo flight from New York to Paris in May of that year. The book was one of the most successful non-fiction titles of all time, selling more than 650,000 copies in less than a year and earning its author over $250,000[2] (equivalent to $4,500,000 in 2024[3]).
In 1927, Putnam's wife,Dorothy Binney, traveled to South America and began a long, well-chronicled affair with George Weymouth, a man 19 years her junior; Putnam would leave Binney two years later.[4] Many thought that Putnam had left his first wife forAmelia Earhart, although for Binney, it was her own ticket out of an unhappy marriage.[5]
In 1930, the various Putnam heirs voted to merge the family's publishing firm with Minton, Balch & Co., which became the majority stockholders. Putnam resigned from his position as secretary of G. P. Putnam's Sons and joined New York publishers Brewer & Warren as vice president.
A significant event in Putnam's personal and business life occurred in 1928, before the merger. Because of his reputation for working with Lindbergh, he was contacted byAmy Phipps Guest, a wealthy American living inLondon, who wanted to sponsor the first-ever flight by a woman across theAtlantic Ocean.
Guest asked Putnam to find a suitable candidate, and he eventually came up with the then-unknown aviator, Amelia Earhart.[6] As it turned out, they shared many common interests: hiking, swimming, camping, riding, tennis and golf. When Putnam first met Earhart he was still married to Binney. After she completed her flight across the Atlantic, Putnam offered to help Earhart write a book about it, following the formula he had established with Lindbergh in the writing of"WE". The resulting Earhart book was20 Hrs. 40 Min. (1928).[7]
When they began writing, Putnam invited Earhart to live in his home, because he felt it would make the process easier. Shortly after, Binney left for South America. Putnam and Binney divorced in 1929. Putnam had undertaken to promote Earhart in a campaign that included lecture tours and mass-market endorsements for luggage,Lucky Strike cigarettes (this caused image problems for her, andMcCall's magazine retracted an offer) and other products.[8]
Putnam and Earhart made their relationship official shortly after his divorce was finalized, but they didn't marry until 1931. Earhart's ideas on marriage were liberal for the time, as she believed in equal responsibilities for both "breadwinners" and pointedly kept her own surname. GP, as she called him, soon learned that he would be called "Mr. Earhart".[9][Note 1]
There was no honeymoon for the newlyweds because Earhart was involved in a nine-day cross-country tour promoting autogyros and the tour sponsor,Beech-Nut chewing gum. Although the couple had no children, he had two sons by his first marriage,[10] explorer and writer David Binney Putnam (1913–1992) and businessman George Palmer Putnam Jr. (1921–2013). Earhart was especially fond of David, who frequently visited his father at their family home inRye, New York. George had contractedpolio shortly after his parents' separation and was unable to visit as often.[11]
Following Earhart's successful 1932 solo transatlantic flight, Putnam again organized her public engagements and speaking tour across the United States. Earhart joined the faculty ofPurdue University College of Technology in 1935 as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers and as a technical advisor to the Department of Aeronautics.[12]
Earhart disappeared in 1937 while on her second attempt to complete acircumnavigational flight of the globe. In addition to her first work, Putnam published two other books Earhart wrote about flying,The Fun of It (1932), a memoir of her flying experiences and an essay on women in aviation andLast Flight (1937), consisting of letters and memorandum compiled by Putnam after her disappearance.[13] Putnam also published her biography in 1939 under the titleSoaring Wings: A Biography of Amelia Earhart. Although a major blaze at the Putnam residence in Rye destroyed many family treasures and Earhart's personal mementos, Putnam later donated some of Earhart's belongings, including photographs, private letters, and a flight jacket, to Purdue University, where she had worked as a career counselor. Other personal effects were sent to the Women's Archives in New York.[14]
Putnam had Earhart declared dead on January 5, 1939, and remarried on May 21 of that year to Jean-Marie Cosigny James.[15]
In 1938, Putnam set up a new publishing company in California, George Palmer Putnam Inc.[16] With America's entry intoWorld War II in 1941, Putnam resumed active service, joining an intelligence unit as a captain and rising to the rank of major by 1942. In 1945, he and "Jeannie" divorced; she had initiated the action, citing incompatibility. Shortly after, he remarried again, to Margaret Havilland. They operated the Stove Pipe Wells resort in Death Valley, California.[17]
In the bookDeath Valley Handbook (1947), Putnam was the binomial author of the plant taxonGilia mohavensis(H.Mason) Putnam.[18] The name has since slipped intosynonymy withLinanthus mohavensisH.Mason, itsbasionym (or original species name).
George Putnam authored a number of books, including:
In late 1949, Putnam fell ill at his home in theStove Pipe Wells, California resort in Death Valley, suffering from kidney failure. He died inTrona, California on January 4, 1950, aged 62. His body was cremated and the ashes interred in theChapel of the Pines Crematory inLos Angeles.[17]
Amelia Earhart, Putnam's second wife, was the first president of TheNinety-Nines, an organization of (originally) 99 female pilots formed in 1929 for the support and advancement of aviation. Putnam had proposed an award as a means of honoring anyone who supports an individual member of the group (known as a "49½"), a Chapter or Section, or the organization as a whole. The "George Palmer Putnam 49½ Award" was originated to recognize such exceptional support of The Ninety-Nines.[19]
In 1927, theBoy Scouts of America made Putnam an "Honorary Scout", a new category of Scout created that same year. This distinction was given to "American citizens whose achievements in outdoor activity, exploration and worthwhile adventure are of such an exceptional character as to capture the imagination of boys...".[20][Note 3]
Due to his relationship with Amelia Earhart, Putnam has been the subject of numerous feature and documentary films including:Amelia Earhart (1976) withJohn Forsythe portraying Putnam. InAmelia Earhart: The Final Flight (1994),Bruce Dern played him. The documentaryAmelia Earhart: The Price of Courage (1993) fromAmerican Experience also featured the Putnam-Earhart marriage.[21]Laurie Gwen Shapiro's 2025 book "The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage That Made an American Icon" covered their relationship in detail.[22]Richard Gere portrayed Putnam in the 2009 movie,Amelia.[23]
InFlying Blind, a "Nathan Heller" novel byMax Allan Collins, George Putnam is a major character, but is portrayed as a villain using Earhart for his own purposes.[citation needed]
In the 2009 filmAmelia, Putnam is portrayed by the actorRichard Gere.[24]
Recordings of Putnam's voice is used throughout 2008 albumFight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion.[citation needed]
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