TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of the Collection

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents

Index Terms

Administrative Information

Detailed Description of the Collection

Joseph Sanger Linz Papers

Biographical Note

Joseph Sanger Linz, was born in Dallas and 68 years old in 1978, us a member of two prominent Dallas families. His maternal grandfather was Philip Sanger, a founder of Sanger Brothers department store, and his paternal grandfather was Joseph Linz, the founder of Linz Brothers Jewelers.

Joseph Linz graduated from Dartmouth College and originally desired to be an architect. He worked briefly for O'Neil Ford but by 1933 he had become the art critic for the Daily Times Herald newspaper. He later moved to New York and became involved in a song writing and public relations career. In 1940, he returned to Dallas to work on his father's newspaper, the Dallas Journal, as the film and drama critic. It was in this capacity that Joseph Linz first met Edna Ferber. This initial contact led to a friendship that continued until Miss Ferber's death in 1968.

Mr. Linz served in the Army Air Force as a captain in World War II. After the war he married Elizabeth born and began a nineteen year career in the family firm of Linz Bros. Jewelry.

In 1974, he was contacted by Julie Goldsmith Gilbert Weisman, the grandniece of Edna Ferber, who informed him that she was beginning to do research for a biography of her great aunt. They corresponded with each other over the next three years as the biography progressed. The final work was entitled Ferber-A Biography and published in 1977.

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Scope and Contents

The friendship between Joseph Linz and Edna Ferber began iwth his interview of her for the Dallas Journal on her first trip to Texas. A copy of this interview is filed in Folder 1.

There are twenty letters from Edna Ferber to Joseph Linz in this collection, dating from 1942 to 1966. They make up Items 2-21 and are filed chronologically in the first three folders. In her letters, Miss Ferber discusses such general topics as family, health, writing and the theater. Some of her works are mentioned in the following items: Giant, #7,8,9,10,11, and 13; Ice Palace, #12; Saratoga Truck, #13; and, Show Boat, #21. A particularly poignant remark about James Dean and his role in the film adaptation of Giant is made in Item 10.

One trait of Edna Ferber's that should be clarified is that she always addressed Joseph Linz as "David" in her letters. Her reason was that she did not think he resembled a Joe and would not label him with a misnomer. Instead, she gave him the nickname of David.

Joseph Linz's last letter from Edna Ferber was in August 1966; she died on April 6, 1968 at the age of eighty three.

Joseph Linz's correspondence with Julie Goldsmith Gilbert Weisman begins in 1974 when she writes to ask for information on his relationship with her great aunt. In her first letter she explains she is planning a biography and will be using the pen name of Julie Goldsmith Gilbert. Item 24 is Joseph Linz's reply to her request. Between 1975 and 1977, she writes five times, Items 24-29, reporting on the progress of the biography. When the work was near completion, she sent an uncorrected version of the first proof to Mr. Linz. This copy of the proof Ferber-A Biography is in Folder 5.

In April, 1978 Mr. Linz presented the letters from Edna Ferber, the correspondence from Julie Gilbert and the uncorrected proof, as a gift to the Dallas Public Library.

The Friends of the Dallas Public Library invited Julie Goldsmith Gilbert to speak at their annual luncheon on April 27, 1978. In advance of her talk, Ms. Gilbert prepared a brief autobiographical sketch which has also been included in the collection as Item 30.

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Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Persons:

Family Names:

Places:

Titles:

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

MASC78-3 Joseph Linz Papers, Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division, Dallas Public Library

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Detailed Description of the Collection