PRIDE, PREJUDICE AND PATRIMONY: THE DISPUTE BETWEEN GEORGE WHARTON JAMES AND THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF JOHN MUIR

Feather River Inn

This paper provides a case study of several fundamental problems inherent in celebrity status. Just days after John Muir died on Christmas eve, 1914, George Wharton James, a controversial Southern California preacher, lecturer, and author, announced his intent to publish a biography based on nearly 100 personal and intimate letters in his possession which Muir had written to Jeanne Carr, primarily during the naturalist's early years in Yosemite. Muir's heirs threatened to sue to prevent their publication by any unauthorized persons. To forstall James, they reluctantly agreed to publish a limited edition of his letters to Carr, derived from copies Muir had obtained from James and then had emended to eliminate content that he and his family and friends considered unsuitable for publication. This paper discusses the origins of the dispute and its aftermath, emphasizing the efforts to develop and enhance Muir's public image as writer and naturalist, and the attempts to protect his literary rights as well as his privacy. It is based largely on original, unpublished sources collected by the late Sherry Hanna, widow of Strentzel Hanna, Muir's eldest grandchild.