Gibson, Langhorne, 1899-

Langhorne Gibson graduated from Yale College with the Class of 1922. He was apprenticed with the Crowell Publishing Company in New York City, and was author of Death of a Fleet and The Riddle of Jutland. Gibson's hobbies were hunting and yachting, and he designed and built Diana, a motor-sailer on which he and his wife lived during the first year of their marriage.

From the description of Langhorne Gibson papers, 1710-1957 (inclusive), 1914-1957 (bulk). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702166050

Langhorne Gibson graduated from Yale College with the Class of 1922. He was apprenticed with the Crowell Publishing Company in New York City, and was author of Death of a Fleet and The Riddle of Jutland . Gibson's hobbies were hunting and yachting, and he designed and built Diana, a motor-sailer on which he and his wife lived during the first year of their marriage.

LANGHORNE GIBSON. Residence, "Ramsay," Greenwood, Va.

Lang says to the Class: "As life's shadows lengthen, I take pen in hand to have this fireside chat with each and every one of you. I shall begin from June, 1922. My college career prior to that is still indelibly traced in your memory. No doubt you often speak of it among yourselves.

"The fire glows this chilly early autumn evening here in my library in Greenwood, situated in the center of the Old Dominion. My wife (née Parthenia Ross), whom I married in 1936, mends my hardworn farm clothes. Parthenia, Jr., Mark, and Langhorne lounge on the sofa with coke in hand, watching television. Upstairs, cosily tucked in their beds, sleep Irene, Dana, and Diana. These five bright and healthy children range from thirteen to four years of age.

"We appreciate our manifold blessings. Among the greatest of these is the safety of my son Harry, now a Marine sergeant in Korea. His brother, my oldest son, Charles Dana, who is a professional Florida fisherman, has just presented me with a granddaughter. I can't begin to tell you how many people think I look too young to have a grandchild. I wonder what you would think? Dana and Harry are sons by a former marriage to Marion Taylor. So, put them all together, and I have seven children.

"Following graduation I was apprenticed to the Crowell Publishing Company in New York City, rapidly rising to the advertising managership of the Mentor, now a non-existent publication. Then, a meteoric rise in the old Life, which my father owned. That too became extinct. No, I never was employed by the Literary Digest . In order not to become too dull a boy, I spent my off hours fox hunting and yachting.

"There followed a brief period of authorship, during which I composed Death of a Fleet and The Riddle of Jutland, both of them best sellers in their respective categories, namely, 'Jutland' and 'Fleets, deaths of.' I've lost my gift of writing, as you can see.

"Parthenia and I spent our first married year on our motor-sailer, Diana, which we built and designed for comfort. We went every-where. In 1937 we remodeled our present house, 'Ramsay.' From early childhood I had made up my mind to live in Greenwood and nowhere else. And here we shall remain until our final journey to the church across the road, where every courtesy will be rendered, due to the fact that I am senior warden, as well as a vestryman. Our idyllic existence here in Greenwood was rudely interrupted by the war, when I was stationed for four and a half years as officer in charge of the Richmond waterfront."

(Taken from the Yale College, Class of 1922, Thirty Year Reunion Book)

From the guide to the Langhorne Gibson papers, 1710-1957, 1914-1957, (Manuscripts and Archives)