"This Thing is a Movement"

By the end of the 1920s, Harold Ross had lined up essential contributors who would define the voice of The New Yorker. In 1925, E.B. White began writing warm and witty pieces that enlivened the magazine’s “Notes and Comment” section. But White was wary of committing to The New Yorker, and Ross often had to persuade him to remain on staff. John O’Hara was one of the magazine’s most prolific fiction contributors. In this 1939 letter, O’Hara did not mince words when demanding better compensation for his stories. “O’Hara is the highest paid author on a word basis,” Ross noted wryly in pencil.