MacKinlay Kantor Collection

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0559

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Correspondence and newspaper articles related to American journalist, screenwriter, and Pulitzer prize winning novelist MacKinlay Kantor. Including a feature article with color picture (1972) and obituary (1977) from the St. Petersburg Times and correspondence between Kantor and George T. Banister, Harry Zollars, Jay Clack, and Virginia Hersch, with an autographed photo of Kantor inscribed to Clack.

Dates

Creation: 1934 - 1977

Creator

Kantor, MacKinlay, 1904-1977. (Person)

Access

The collection is open for research.

Biographical/Historical Note

MacKinlay Kantor was born in Webster City, Iowa on February 4, 1904. He married Florence Irene Layne and had two children. During the early part of his career he wrote numerous short stories for pulp fiction magazines before moving on to historical novels. In 1936 he moved from Westfield, New Hampshire to Sarasota, Florida.

During World War II, Kantor worked in London as a war correspondent. After the war, he was commissioned by producer Samuel Goldwyn to write a screenplay about veterans' returning home. He wrote a novel which was published as Glory for Me (1945). After selling the movie rights to his novel, the film was released under the title The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). The film was a commercial and critical success, winning seven Academy Awards. Kantor was disappointed with the way the film adapted his novel. In 1956 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his Civil War novel Andersonville (1955).

Kantor died of congestive heart failure in October of 1977 in Sarasota Florida where he had lived since 1936.

Extent

.21 Linear Feet (1 Box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Correspondence and newspaper articles related to American journalist, screenwriter, and Pulitzer prize winning novelist MacKinlay Kantor.

Location

University of Florida Smathers Library Building

Acquisition Information

Purchased in 1990.

Related Material

MacKinlay Kantor was a friend and associate of author John D. MacDonald. Correspondence from Kantor can be found in the John D. MacDonald Collection.

The MacKinlay Kantor Papers are housed at the Library of Congress.

Separated Material

Many of the published works of MacKinlay Kantor can be found in the Rare Books and General Library Collections of the University of Florida. These works are accessible using the library online catalog.

Additionally, movie posters based on Kantor's writings can be found in the Belknap Collection.