New Breed Turf Writer in Midst: Faulkner, Winner of Nobel, Pulitzer Prizes, Said to Get ,000 for Covering Derby, Daily Racing Form, 1955-05-06

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New Breed1 Turf Writer in Midst Faulkner, Winner of Nobel, Pulitzer Prizes, Said to Get ,000 for Covering Derby CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 5.— The old Churchill Downs press box has played host, through the years, to many an able writer, but something in the way of a "new breed" of turf writer is in our midst this season. The gentleman is" "William Faulkner, a guy who won the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes. His literature is said to be something, if you can understand all of it, which some people say they cant, but even those who clont understand it all, like for instance Red Smith of the New York Herald Tribune, says that the man rises to lines of sparkling word artistry and beauty in some of his works. Faulkner, a quiet fellow, has been .around Churchill for the last few days, has visited the barns in the morning, and has been hitting a typewriter some in the press box of an afternoon. He has an assignment to "cover" the race for a national sports weekly. Has Farm in Oxford, Miss. For all his literary skill the novel, "A Fable," won him his Pulitzer Prize , Faulkner has a working knowledge of horses and mules, for he has a farm in Oxford, Miss., and it is understood he was the" owner of a quarter horse which raced until just recently. In an interview with Larry Boeck, sports writer for the Louisville Courier Journal, Faulkner is quoted as saying, "Yes ... . yes, no doubt," responding to a query as to whether a race horse actually has a heart and knowing where the finish line is. "Take a jackass . . . now a jackass maybe has more sense than a thoroughbred. When hes tired, he quits working. When he cant go on, wlien the odds are against him, he decides not to do anything. "But a thoroughbred responds to the most disheartening situation. Hell kill himself to achieve what is asked of him. A jackass, of course, wont. And so, a thoroughbred must possess a heart as we know it — or conceive of it or think of it." At this point, Nelson Fisher, turf editor of the San Diego Union, remarked, "Aint it ironic? Heres a guy who gets 00 for winning a Pulitzer Prize, and they say that mag is paying him ,000 for his Derby story." "Well," responded the press box philosopher, "remember, Fisher, that Sally! Rand is reputed to have made more money than Sarah Bernhardt."


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1955050601/drf1955050601_3_3
Local Identifier: drf1955050601_3_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800