Portrait Gallery

Stanley Weintraub

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Stanley Weintraub (born. April 17, 1929) is a professor, historian, and biographer. He is an expert on George Bernard Shaw. Weintraub was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the eldest child of Benjamin and Ray Segal Weintraub, followed by siblings Herbert and Gladys. Weintraub married his wife Rodelle Horwitz in 1954, with whom he has three children: Mark Bennett, David Andrew, and Erica Beth. They have eight grandchildren.

Professor Stanley Weintraub and Mrs. Rodelle Weintraub among their books

Early life

Weintraub started to accrue his knowledge about world affairs at an early age. From a one-volume children’s encyclopedia he moved to the stacks of National Geographic magazines bought second-hand by his father for him at five cents each. His expertise in war also started early, when he collected the then-popular bubble-gum war cards in the 1930s, though he was too young to recognize the patriotic propaganda. In 1939, ten-year-old Weintraub became able to check out adult books when his father applied for a library card. The first book he checked out was radio commentator H. V. Kaltenborn’s I Broadcast the Crisis, about the Munich Conference in 1938.

His first attempt at writing beyond school assignments began with a chronicle of World War II in 1939, a task abandoned the next year due to illness. His interest in the development of the war and domestic politics continued, especially after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. The early creative efforts included ranged from building model warplanes to the publication of verses marking the 1941 Japanese capture of Wake Island and the Battle of Bataan.

War years

Receiving a commission as Army Second Lieutenant, Weintraub served with the Eighth Army in Korea, largely as admissions officer for the UN POW Hospital on the Korean mainland. He spent seventeen months in Korea, and was separated from active duty as a first lieutenant, having been awarded a Bronze Star. [1]

Post war

A distinguished alumnus of South Philadelphia High School, he attended West Chester State Teachers College (now West Chester University of Pennsylvania) where he received his B.S. in education in 1949. He was presented a Distinguished Alumnus Award by West Chester University in 1968. On 11 November 1982, the university inaugurated the “Rodelle and Stanley Weintraub Center for the Study of the Arts and Humanities,” showcasing a collection of his and her books, papers and memorabilia. The exhibits include a head sculpted by Samuel Sabean. Weintraub continued his education at Temple University were he received his master’s degree in English “in absentia,” as he was called to duty in the Korean War. In 2011, Professor Weintraub was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by West Chester University of Pennsylvania.[2]

Weintraub enrolled at the Pennsylvania State University in September 1953, and his doctoral dissertation “Bernard Shaw, Novelist” was accepted on May 6, 1956. But for visiting appointments, he remained at Penn State throughout his career, moving through the ranks from teaching assistant as a Ph.D. student to Evan Pugh Professor of Arts and Humanities, with emeritus rank on retirement in 2000. From 1970 to 1990 he was also Director of Penn State’s Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies.

Weintraub’s Shaw editorships began in 1956 when he took over the then-moribund Shaw Bulletin, which became Shaw Review in 1959 and SHAW: The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies in 1981. His copious writings on Shaw include some twenty volumes about or by Shaw, such as the award-winning Journey to Heartbreak; the Crucible Years of Bernard Shaw, 1914-1918. The first of his Shaw-related books, in 1963, was Private Shaw and Public Shaw: A Dual Portrait of Lawrence of Arabia and G.B.S..

As a biographer, Weintraub has focused upon nineteenth-century England, from Four Rossettis and Whistler to Victoria, Albert, and Disraeli. His Korean War experience led him also into military history, with books on both world wars, the Korean War, and the Spanish Civil War–an interest sparked early by the inter-war conflicts pictured on his boyhood collection of bubble-gum cards. As a critic, beyond his books and articles he has written hundreds of reviews for scholarly journals, and for the Saturday Review (now defunct), The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post’s Book World, and the Wall Street Journal. Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post has called him “a gifted, accomplished biographer and literary historian.”

The Weintraub’s Stanley Tree

Weintraub’s awards for teaching, research and publications include the PSU Class of 1933 Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Humanities in 1964, a National Book Award Nomination for Beardsley: A Biography in 1967, Guggenheim Fellow in 1968, the George Freedley Award from the American Theatre Library Association for Journey to Heartbreak: The Crucible Years of Bernard Shaw, 1914-1918 in 1971, the Freedom Foundation Award for The London Yankees: Portraits of American Writers and Artists in London, 1894-1914 in 1980, a third Distinguished Humanist Award by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council in 1985. Whistler; a Biography was one of the “30 Notable Books of the Year” in 1974. Long Day’s Journey Into War was on the “best” list of Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, the New York Times Book Review and the New York Public Library. The Last Great Victory: the End of World War II, July–August 1945 was one of his many books selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club, going into its third printing within a month of its release date. Many of his books, from Victoria to Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914, have become audiobooks.

He and Rodelle now live in Newark, Delaware.[3]

Notable Quotation from Stanley Weintraub

“Peace is harder to make than war.” From A Stillness Heard Round the World: the End of the Great War, November 1918.

Books by Stanley Weintraub

  • Private Shaw and Public Shaw: A Dual Portrait of Arabia and G. B. S.. London: Braziller, 1963.
  • The Yellow Book, Quintessence of the Nineties. Edited with an introd. by Stanley Weintraub [1st ed.]. Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday 1964.
  • The Art of William Golding [by] Bernard S. Oldsey & Stanley Weintraub. New York Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965.
  • Reggie: a Portrait of Reginald Turner. New York G. Braziller, 1965.
  • The Last Great Cause ; the Intellectuals and the Spanish Civil War. New York, Weybright and Talley, 1968.
  • Journey to Heartbreak ; the Crucible Years of Bernard Shaw, 1914-1918. New York, Weybright and Talley, 1971.
  • Beardsley: A Biography. London: Braziller, 1967.
  • Journey to Heartbreak: The Crucible Years of Bernard Shaw. New York: Weybright and Talley, 1971.
  • Directions in Literary Criticism; Contemporary Approaches to Literature. Edited by Stanley Weintraub and Philip Young. University Park Pennsylvania State University Press, 1973.
  • Saint Joan: Fifty Years After, 1923/24-1973/74. Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1973.
  • Whistler: a Biography. New York, Weybright and Talley, 1974.
  • Lawrence of Arabia: the Literary Impulse. With Rodelle Weintraub. Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 1975.
  • Aubrey Beardsley: Imp of the Perverse. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976
  • War in the Wards: Korea’s Unknown Battle in a Prisoner-of-war Hospital Camp 2d ed. San Rafael, Calif. : Presidio Press, 1976.
  • Four Rossettis: a Victorian Biography. New York : Weybright and Talley, 1977.
  • The London Yankees: Portraits of American Writers and Artists in London, 1894-1914. New York: Harcourt, 1979.
  • Modern British Dramatists, 1900-1945. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 1982.
  • The Unexpected Shaw: Biographical Approaches to George Bernard Shaw and His Work. New York: Ungar, 1982,
  • British Dramatists since World War II. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 1982.
  • The Portable Bernard Shaw. New York : Penguin Books, 1986, 1977.
  • A Stillness Heard Round the World: the End of the Great War, November 1918. London : Allen & Unwin, 1986, 1985.
  • Victoria: An Intimate Biography. New York: Dutton, 1987.
  • Bernard Shaw on the London Art Scene, 1885-1950. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1989.
  • Long Day’s Journey Into War: December 7, 1941. New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Dutton, 1991.
  • Bernard Shaw: a Guide to Research. University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992.
  • Disraeli: A Biography. New York: Dutton, 1993
  • Arms and the Man and John Bull’s Other Island by George Bernard Shaw, with an Introduction by Stanley and Rodelle Weintraub. New York: Bantam Books, 1993.
  • The Last Great Victory : the End of World War II, July–August 1945. New York : Truman Talley Books, 1995.
  • Heartbreak House and Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw, with Introduction by Rodelle and Stanley Weintraub. New York: Bantam Books, 1995.
  • Shaw’s People: Victoria to Churchill. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996.
  • Uncrowned King: The Life of Prince Albert. New York: Free Press, 1997.
  • MacArthur’s War: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero. New York: Free Press, 2000.
  • Dear Young Friend the Letters of American Presidents to Children. Edited with Rodelle Weintraub. Mechanicburg: Stackpole Press, 2000.
  • Edward the Caresser: the Playboy Prince who Became Edward VII. New York: Free Press, 2001.
  • Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914. New York: Free Press, 2001.
  • Charlotte and Lionel: a Rothschild Love Story. New York: Free Press, 2003.
  • General Washington’s Christmas Farewell: a Mount Vernon Homecoming, 1783. New York: Free Press, 2003.
  • Iron Tears: America’s Battle for Freedom, Britain’s Quagmire, 1775-1783. New York: Free Press, 2005. (also, subtitled Rebellion in America, 1775-1783. London: Simon and Schuster, 2005)
  • Eleven Days in December. Christmas at the Bulge, 1944. NY: Free Press, 2006
  • 15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall: Three Generals Who Saved the American Century New York: Free Press, 2007.
  • General Sherman’s Christmas. Savannah, 1864 New York: Harper/Smithsonian, 2009
  • Farewell, Victoria! English Literature 1880-1900 Greensboro, NC: ELT PRESS/ Univ. of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2011
  • Who’s Afraid of Bernard Shaw? Some Personalities in Shaw’s Plays Gainesville, FL: Univ. Press of Florida, 2011
  • Victorian Yankees at Queen Victoria’s Court: American Encounters with Victoria and Albert Newark: Univ. of Delaware Press, 2011 [A brief preliminary text delivered as a lecture was published under the same title earlier in Canada.]
  • Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World at War, December 1941 New York: DaCapo Press (Perseus Books Group), 2011
  • FDR’s Last Campaign: The 4th Term Election, 1944 New York: DaCapo Press (Perseus Books Group), 2012 [book delivered and scheduled for July 2012 release; subtitle not finalized]

Other publications by Stanley Weintraub including editions, forewords and prefaces

  • Shaw, Bernard. An Unfinished Novel. London: Constable, 1958.
  • Snow, C.P. C.P. Snow: a Spectrum, Science, Criticism, Fiction. Edited by Stanley Weintraub. New York Scribner, 1963.
  • MacCarthy, Desmond. The Court Theatre 1904-1907: a Commentary and Criticism. Edited, with a foreword and additional material, by Stanley Weintraub. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1966.
  • Savoy. The Savoy : Nineties Experiment. Edited with an introd. by Stanley Weintraub. University Park, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1966.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Cashel Byron’s Profession. Pref. by Harry T. Moore. Edited, with an introd. by Stanley Weintraub. Carbondale Southern Illinois University Press, 1968.
  • Lawrence, T.E. Evolution of a Revolt ; Early Postwar Writings of T.E. Lawrence. Edited with an introd. by Stanley and Rodelle Weintraub. University Park, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1968.
  • Oscar Wilde. Literary Criticism of Oscar Wilde. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1968, 1970.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Cashel Byron’s Profession. Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press, 1968.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Shaw. Selected from his Writings by Stanley Weintraub. New York, Weybright and Talley, 1969-70.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Shaw; an Autobiography. London: M. Reinhardt, 1970.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Saint Joan. Edited, with an introd. and notes, by Stanley Weintraub. Indianapolis Bobbs-Merrill, 1971.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Bernard Shaw’s Nondramatic Literary Criticism. Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 1972.
  • Shaw, Bernard. The Portable Bernard Shaw. New York: Penguin Books, 1977.
  • Wilde, Oscar. The Portable Oscar Wilde. Rev. ed. New York : Viking Press, 1981.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Heartbreak House : a Facsimile of the Revised Typescript. New York : Garland Pub., 1981.
  • Shaw, Bernard. The Playwright and the Pirate : Bernard Shaw and Frank Harris, a Correspondence. University Park : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1982.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Bernard Shaw: the Diaries, 1885-1897 : with Early Autobiographical Notebooks and Diaries, and an Abortive 1917 Diary. University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, 1986.
  • Shaw, Bernard. Heartbreak House : and, Misalliance. Selinsgrove : Susquehanna University Press ; London : Associated University Presses, 1998.
  • Rusinko, Susan. Shaw and Other Matters : a Festschrift for Stanley Weintraub on the Occasion of his Forty-second Anniversary at the Pennsylvania State University. Selinsgrove : Susquehanna University Press ; London : Associated University Presses, 1998.

 

Autobiographical Writings

  • War in the Wards: Korea’s Unknown Battle in a Prisoner-of-war Hospital Camp. 2d ed. San Rafael, Calif. : Presidio Press, 1976.
  • “Confessions of a Bookworm’ Apprentice,” Town & Gown (September 1984): 24-54.
  • “Research as Fun” (unpublished typescript of a talk delivered to a local chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, April 1986).
  • “A Kid’s War,” Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series 20. Detroit: Gale Research 1994. 297-317.
  • Interviews:
  • John F. Baker, “Stanley Weintraub,” Publishers Weekly 2-5 (4 February 1974): 8-9.
  • Jean W. Ross, “The Practice of Biography: An Interview with Stanley Weintraub,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook: 1982. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. 34-46.
  • Jo Chesworth, “Biography of a Biographer,” Town & Gown (August 1990): 66-76.
  • Biography:
  • Orso, Miranda. “Stanley Weintraub.” <http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/LitMap/bios/Weintraub__Stanley.html
     

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  • Crawford, Fred D. “The Dreaded Weintraub.” In Shaw and Other Matters : a Festschrift for Stanley Weintraub on the Occasion of his Forty-second Anniversary at the Pennsylvania State University. Edited by Susan Rusinko. Selinsgrove : Susquehanna University Press ; London : Associated University Presses, 1998.
  • Colon, John J. “Stanley Weintraub,” Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume III American Literary Biographers, Second Series. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. 285-99.

References

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