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Show Miss Maurine Whipple Declares She's Glad To Be Home After Coast To Coast Trip "It's grand to be home!" Thus commented Miss Maurine Whipple on her return to St. George fol-: fol-: lowing a personal appearance tour, which has taken her from coast to coast. Miss Whipple's book. "The Giant Joshua" has been among the best sellers of the nation since its appearance on the book stands last January. In portraying the picture of the settlement of St. George, Miss Whipple has written from a different dif-ferent angle than that usually taken. To use her own words: "Books written about the Mormons Mor-mons have been of two classes: those that glorified it and those that vilified it. I felt sure that Mormons of those days were very human men and women, just as today, no better nor worse than other people. They could not have been the saint or the devils they . have been depicted." This very human side of the Mormans which she has presented has won acclaim from critics and readers alike with the result that her book is listed among the best sellers and Miss Whipple has had honors heaped upon her where-ever where-ever she has appeared. Statistics reveal there were 1700 books published and released to the public last year. Of this number the average sold only 1,000 copies. In comparison "The Giant Joshua" has attained a sale of 25.000 copies since being released re-leased and the call for the book has kept it among the leaders even though a new group has been released for the spring period. Miss Whipple Honored Miss Whipple has been honored wherever she appeared both by organizations or-ganizations and inviduals. Reports indicate that she has been very' (Continued on page eight) Maurine Whipple gracious with both her time and energy and has won friends for Utah and St. George in particular wherever she has made these contacts. She just recently signed a lecture lec-ture tour contract that will present pres-ent her in a 10-week series of lectures lec-tures of four each week. The tour will start in Salt Lake City and will take her to New York. That she is being recognized for her ability is seen from the fact that her contract guarantees her $5,000. y "Receiving fan mail is a new J experience for me," declares Miss 1 Whipple. "But, of all the 600 let- ! ters that I have received none ' pleased me more than the letter 1 written to me by Aunt Zaidee Miles. It came to me while I was in New York and it touched my J heart to know that my home folk, and Aunt Zaidee in particular, still cared for me. I tried to make Mormons human beings, showing both their outstanding qualities and their feelings, and I was 1 somewhat perturbed as to the re- j action of my own people might 1 show. This is my home and I j have tried to present it in as fine 1 a light as possible to those with whom I have come in contact 1 throughout the nation. I am de- ' lighted at the reception I have received since returning home." Fine Publicity Reports indicate that much fine publicity has been gained for St. George and southern Utah from Miss Whipple's book. The jacket, which shows scenes from southern sou-thern Utah and the St. George Tabernacle, has been acclaimed as an outstanding advertising feature. It was made possible through the insistence of Miss Whipple that local scenes be used. The pictures pic-tures from which it was made were taken by D. Elden Beck with the assistance of Miss Whipple and George Pace. Miss Whipple reports that she has been taking additional pictures since her return which are to be used in publicizing the book. In commenting on the characters char-acters in the book, she declares that they are all fictional with the exception of Erastus Snow and John D. Lee. In the case of Mr. Snow she felt that he was such an outstanding character and such an integral part of this community that it would be impossible im-possible to not use him. She does not claim that her characterization characteriza-tion is true to his life. Local names were used because, she felt that they were a part of this community and as such , would help to bring home the theme of the story. Another Novel Planned Another novel is being planned by Miss Whipple, an outline of which has been presented to her publishers and received their approval. ap-proval. It is to use St. George as the locale and will use the musical background of this community com-munity as a setting for the main character, a young girl singer. Miss Whipple is to be presented by the Dixie Reviewers club in the College auditorium on next Sunday at 7:30 p. m. She has also promised George Pace to autograph au-tograph books sold by him and will be at the Big Hand Cafe on Sunday between the hours of 2 and 5 p. m. In checking on the sales of the book by stores and individuals, Miss Whipple reports that the records rec-ords show that George Pace and Dr. Joseph Walker, of Hollywood, have sold more of the books than any other individuals, and that Mr. Pace has sold more per capita than any other bookstore in the United States. |