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TRUMAN, Harry S. Typed letter signed ("Harry S. Truman"), as President, to Carter T. Barron, Washington, D. C., 5 August 1950. 1 page, 4to, White House stationery.
"CRITICS USUALLY ARE PICKED FROM FRUSTRATED PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE A FAILURE IN THE THINGS THEY CRITICIZE."
A WARM-UP FOR THE PAUL HUME LETTER. Truman thanks Barron for an enjoyable night at the theatre, but grumbles about the reactions of a critic in the Washington Post. "I notice one of the 'ivory tower' critics in the Washington Post this morning has some 'funny' remarks I might say 'phony' remarks about the acting. I've found that critics are usually picked from frustrated people who have made a failure in the things they criticize. I saw nothing in the show last night to criticize." There are almost eerie premonitions of the grenade Truman threw at the Post's music critic Paul Hume four months later after he panned Margaret Truman's Constitution Hall recital. The milder portions of that letter read: "It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam." Then came the physical threats: black eye, broken nose, ruptured groin. Truman makes no such violent threats in this letter, but he shows the same contempt for those who cannot do, and only write snide newspaper criticism instead.
"CRITICS USUALLY ARE PICKED FROM FRUSTRATED PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE A FAILURE IN THE THINGS THEY CRITICIZE."
A WARM-UP FOR THE PAUL HUME LETTER. Truman thanks Barron for an enjoyable night at the theatre, but grumbles about the reactions of a critic in the Washington Post. "I notice one of the 'ivory tower' critics in the Washington Post this morning has some 'funny' remarks I might say 'phony' remarks about the acting. I've found that critics are usually picked from frustrated people who have made a failure in the things they criticize. I saw nothing in the show last night to criticize." There are almost eerie premonitions of the grenade Truman threw at the Post's music critic Paul Hume four months later after he panned Margaret Truman's Constitution Hall recital. The milder portions of that letter read: "It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam." Then came the physical threats: black eye, broken nose, ruptured groin. Truman makes no such violent threats in this letter, but he shows the same contempt for those who cannot do, and only write snide newspaper criticism instead.