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Published: September 05, 2009 10:31 pm
MAX EHRMANN: ‘A rare man’ one of Terre Haute’s most memorable
By Mark Bennett
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
Max Ehrmann walked around Terre Haute for months with a masterpiece in the pocket of his dapper jacket.
His smiling face, impeccable attire and gold-knobbed walking stick were familiar images to folks in his hometown. He’d tip his derby hat to ladies as he strolled past.
“Chivalry was a rare quality among local men,” an elderly woman told the Terre Haute Star in 1972, “but then, Max Ehrmann was a rare man.”
The poem stored in Ehrmann’s pocket in the 1920s would prove that statement decades later.
By 1927, Ehrmann had left his law practice and a family business to pursue his passion — writing — and produced a prolific repertoire of poems. He wrote in prose style, ruminating and philosophizing without rhymes. Some of his offerings received notoriety, such as “A Prayer” from 1906. But Ehrmann’s choice to stay in the small Indiana city where he was born, instead of New York or Chicago, limited his exposure in the literary world. Ehrmann was 55 years old when he began constructing a 314-word piece of advice.
He called it “Desiderata,” a Latin word meaning “desired things.” Its passages urged people to see the world’s beauty and troubles through wise, hopeful and unjaded eyes. Ehrmann wrote it for himself, “because it counsels those virtues I felt most in need of,” he once recalled. But years after the poet’s death in 1945, “Desiderata” became an iconic life mantra for millions throughout the planet.
“A lot of people pattern their lives after it,” said Marylee Hagan, executive director of the Vigo County Historical Museum.
Ehrmann’s poetic blueprint for contentment gained new life, by accident, in 1965. That year, former Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson died in a London hotel, and a copy of “Desiderata” was found on the nightstand. A story in the New York Times explained that Stevenson planned to use “Desiderata” in personalized Christmas cards to loved ones that year. The poem’s popularity surged.
Unfortunately, Ehrmann received no recognition at that moment. The copy at Stevenson’s bedside was a reprint of a reprint, inaccurately attributing the poem to an unknown, 17th-century author. That mixup became almost as legendary as the poem itself.
Ehrmann’s widow, Bertha Pratt King, in 1948 published a collection of his works, simply titled “The Poems of Max Ehrmann.” In 1959, a rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore discovered “Desiderata” and distributed about 300 copies in the pews. Those reprints made by the Rev. Frederick Kates contained no mention of the original poet. Instead, the letterhead above the poem read: “Found in Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore, dated 1692.”
Those unattributed mimeographs spread and multiplied, and the public assumed “Desiderata” came from a long-gone, anonymous philosopher. Even advice columnist Ann Landers reprinted the poem as an unknown work. Nameless versions showed up on posters hanging on college students’ dorm room walls. Ehrmann had become a guru to the peace-and-love generation, without receiving credit. Finally, in the early 1970s, after protracted efforts by Robert L. Bell — a Boston publisher who actually owned the “Desiderata” copyright — Ehrmann’s name was properly reattached to his now-beloved poem.
It got etched into pop culture immortality in late 1971, when Los Angeles disc jockey Les Crane recorded a spoken-word version of “Desiderata,” backed by soaring background singers and instrumentation. That single reached No. 8 on the Billboard charts, and earned Crane a Grammy Award. Soon, famous folks like Johnny Cash, Bing Crosby and Vincent Price were reciting Ehrmann’s lines on national TV. It was so popular, that parodies even showed up, including the bitingly funny “Deteriorata” by National Lampoon.
Even though that pinnacle moment for “Desiderata” passed, its timeless message survives 82 years after Ehrmann had it copyrighted. Astute Johnny Depp fans will notice the poem’s presence in his 2007 movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” In it, free-spirited pirate Jack Sparrow (played by Depp) has “Desiderata” tattooed onto his back.
Fellow Terre Haute native Eugene V. Debs predicted Ehrmann’s writing would stand the test of time. In a 1918 letter to Ehrmann, the legendary social justice leader wrote, “Your poet-soul is certain to find immortal expression.” The fame Ehrmann found often is more noticed beyond Terre Haute, the city he called “the world in miniature.”
His local obscurity is about to change.
Max back at Crossroads
In late 2007, two opinion columns in the Tribune-Star triggered a movement to memorialize Ehrmann. In one, Cormac O’Duffy — an Irishman who’d moved to Terre Haute — wondered why no visible tributes to Ehrmann existed in his hometown. A second piece by a Trib-Star columnist pitched the idea of a statue of Ehrmann seated on a park bench at the Crossroads of America — Seventh Street and Wabash Avenue — where Max often sat and pondered, with phrases from “Desiderata” etched into the approaching sidewalk.
Soon, a group of Terre Haute people began meeting, hoping to raise money for outdoor art pieces honoring the city’s internationally revered figures such as Ehrmann, Debs, novelist Theodore Dreiser and songwriter Paul Dresser. That group, known as the Cultural Trail Coalition, decided to start with Ehrmann, given his lifelong affection for this town.
The project gradually gained momentum. After nearly two years of planning, research, negotiating and fund raising, the Coalition is more than halfway to its goal of $67,000 in donations, with $35,000 contributed so far. The site, at the northwest corner of Seventh and Wabash, will include the seated bronze statue, “Desiderata” passages embedded into the sidewalk, and a bronze plaque with the poem’s full text, so a visitor can sit down next to Max and read his most highly acclaimed work. The sculptor, Vigo County artist Bill Wolfe, has created a maquette and painting of the Ehrmann bench.
“The big picture is finally honoring a native son, well-known internationally,” said Bev Cristee, a Coalition member from Wabash Valley Art Spaces.
The coalition operates under the Wabash Valley Art Spaces umbrella, and also includes representatives from Arts Illiana, Downtown Terre Haute Inc., Vigo County Historical Museum, the City of Terre Haute, Indiana State University, the Tribune-Star and other groups. They’ve planned a fundraising celebration on Sept. 25, the eve of Ehrmann’s 137th birthday, in the Indiana Theatre. The evening coincides with the Terre Haute Street Fair and includes a dinner, along with a presentation of the poet’s writing.
Once completed, the statue, bench, landscaping and bronzed poem will educate Terre Hauteans about Ehrmann and create a tourism attraction for his worldwide admirers, Coalition members said.
“I can’t stress the importance of that,” said Pat Martin, chief planner for the City of Terre Haute. “To have somebody sitting on a bench, on the corner of Seventh and Wabash [next to Max] — that’s just perfect.”
The site also will fill a void on the four-cornered Crossroads intersection.
“That’s the one location that’s left to be enhanced,” Mary Kramer, executive director of Wabash Valley Art Spaces, said of the northwest corner. “It will be a green space, a place that will draw people to this corner. And it’s Max, and it’s bringing him back to this spot.”
Fond of his hometown
Indeed, Ehrmann spent long hours at the Crossroads. In fact, some locals reportedly were irked that the writer would linger for so long, idly jotting notes in his notebook, during the height of the Great Depression. But those who actually spoke to Ehrmann found he wasn’t self-absorbed.
On the centennial of Ehrmann’s birth, one of his old conversation buddies — ISU zoology professor William P. Allyn — told the Terre Haute Star that Max spoke little about matters of his own heart. Instead, he wanted to know the thoughts of others and their philosophies of life.
His youth was far from self-absorbed, either. Ehrmann grew up as the youngest of five children of German immigrants, living in a one-story brick house just north of Fourth and Tippecanoe streets in Terre Haute. “It seems incredible that seven persons could have lived in such a tiny place,” Ehrmann once recalled.
Despite his talent and notoriety, Ehrmann stayed in Terre Haute after earning degrees at DePauw University and Harvard Law School. He returned and worked as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Vigo County, but grew disillusioned from dealing with society’s harshest characters. Late at night, he would write. During a long battle with typhoid fever, Ehrmann penned “A Prayer.” It earned him literary acclaim and some fame. Still, after his recovery, Ehrmann worked for 10 years in his brother’s overalls factory. Eventually, at age 40, he decided to follow his heart, and did so right here.
His hometown served as the backdrop for many of his famous poems, including “Desiderata.”
“He was proud to be from Terre Haute,” said Wolfe, who will sculpt Ehrmann’s likeness. In a poem about the town, Ehrmann wrote, “What place is lovelier than Terre Haute?”
Humble as he was, Ehrmann modestly hinted that his writing might be valued by future generations elsewhere.
“Perhaps even when I’m dead,” he wrote, “some browser in libraries will come upon me and, seeing that I was not altogether unworthy, will resurrect me from the dust of things forgotten.”
Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.
Max in brief
Lifetime: Born Sept. 26, 1872; died Sept. 9, 1945.
Birthplace: Terre Haute.
Family: Youngest of five children born to Maximillian Ehrmann Sr. and Margaret Barbara Lutz Ehrmann. Max married his longtime companion, Bertha Pratt King, in 1945, just months before he died.
Buried: Highland Lawn Cemetery.
Desiderata
By Max Ehrmann, 1927
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others, even dull and ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater
and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love for in the
face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in
sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself
with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue
and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its shams, drudgery,
and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Strive to be happy.
Desiderata in Pop Culture
Big hit: In late 1971, Los Angeles disc jockey Les Crane’s recorded recital of “Desiderata” became a rare spoken-word Top 10 hit on the Billboard charts, topping at No. 8. The single earned Crane a Grammy Award.
TV time: In 1972, singers Bing Crosby and Johnny Cash, and actors Vincent Price and Ali McGraw each read “Desiderata” on national TV shows.
In print: Syndicated advice columnist Ann Landers re-ran Ehrmann’s poem in her column. Unfortunately, Landers issued the oft-mistaken credit for “Desiderata” having been “found in St. Paul’s Church, Baltimore, 1692.”
Silver screen images: In the 2007 film “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” the poem is tattooed onto the back of pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).
Comfort at the end: A copy of “Desiderata” was found on the nightstand of former Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson when he died in 1965. Stevenson intended to use the poem in his personalized Christmas cards later that year. Publicity of that discovery unleashed a surge of fascination with “Desiderata,” making it a mantra of the 1960s peace movement.
Political poignance: Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau quoted “Desiderata” on election nights.
On the front: During the Korean War, U.S. chaplains recited “Desiderata” during religious services.
Beamed-up message: “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry kept a copy in his office.
Poetry, not wire hangers: Actress Joan Crawford cited her fondness for the poem in her autobiography: “Joan Crawford: My Way of Life.”
Sources: Vigo County Public Library special collections,
imdb.com, Friends of Max Ehrmann
The Top 40+
Allen Chapel
Larry Bird
Carmelite Monastery
Champagne Velvet
Clabber Girl/Hulman & Co.
Coca-Cola Bottle
Collett Park
Columbia Records
Crossroads of America
Eugene V. Debs
Deming Park
Dirt Track Racing
Theodore Dreiser
Paul Dresser
Farrington’s Grove
First Financial Corp.
Fowler Park/Pioneer Village
Gibault
LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course
Headstone Friends
Anton “Tony” Hulman Jr.
Hulman Center
Hulman Links
Indiana State University
Indiana Theatre
Eva Kor/CANDLES Holocaust Museum
Light House Mission
Memorial Stadium
Mill Dam
National Road Heritage Trail
Ohio Boulevard
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
St. Mary-of-the-Woods College
Sisters of Providence
Sony DADC
Square Donuts
Swope Art Museum
(Now Saint) Mother Theodore Guerin
Sycamore Building
Vigo County Courthouse
2009 additions
Ivy Tech Community College
Terre Haute Symphony
Historic National Road
Wabash River
Max Ehrmann
• Stories on the Top 40 selections can be viewed at www.tribstar.com.
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