Alden R. Hatch

Last updated
Alden Hatch
BornAlden Ruggles Hatch
(1898-09-16)September 16, 1898
New York City, United States
DiedFebruary 1, 1975(1975-02-01) (aged 76)
Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
OccupationWriter, biographer
GenreBiography, Nonfiction
Notable worksCrown of Glory, The life of Pope Pius XII,
H.R.H.Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands: An authorized biography,
Buckminster Fuller At Home In The Universe,
The Wadsworths of the Genesee, 'The Mountbattens:The Last Royal Success Story' (pub: Random House NY 1965;
Spouse1) Ruth Brown
2) Allene Pomeroy Gaty
ChildrenEvelyn, Denison (Denny) Hatch
Relatives Eric S. Hatch (brother)

Alden R. Hatch (September 26, 1898 - February 1, 1975) was an American writer. He was the son of May D. Hatch and Frederic H. Hatch, owner of a successful Wall Street stock brokerage firm he founded in 1888. Alden's brother, Eric S. Hatch, was a writer on the staff of The New Yorker and a novelist and screenwriter best known for his book 1101 Park Avenue that became a hit film under the title My Man Godfrey . [1]

Born in New York City, Alden Hatch was the author of more than 40 books. A number of his works chronicled the lives of a variety of high-profile individuals such as Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Brother André, Charles de Gaulle, Prince Bernhard, Glenn Curtiss, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mamie Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Wendell Willkie, Woodrow Wilson and Edith Bolling Wilson, Clare Boothe Luce, Buckminster Fuller and what Hatch described as a "novelized biography" of Franklin Roosevelt. [2] A fan of Thoroughbred horse racing, in 1938 he collaborated with Foxhall Keene on a biography of the late James R. Keene, the renowned horseman and owner of Castleton Farm.

Hatch wrote several books on his friend, Dwight Eisenhower, and his official biography was used by the General during his 1952 presidential campaign. [3] Hatch also co-authored The Circus Kings with Henry Ringling North.

Alden Hatch was first married in 1932 to Ruth Brown, they divorced in 1949 and in 1950 he remarried to Miss Allene Pomeroy Gaty.

Alden Hatch is the father of Denison (Denny) Hatch, a copywriting expert, author, and former editor-in-chief of Target Marketing magazine.

For a number of years, Alden Hatch lived in his parents' home in Cedarhurst, Long Island. Following a brief illness, he died at age seventy-six at his winter home in Sarasota, Florida. [4]

Alden Hatch's personal typist for many years was Ruth Townsend of Cedarhurst New York. She began typing Mr. Hatch's manuscripts in her home in Cedarhurst in the early 1950s, and continued typing his books into the 1970s. When Mr. Hatch moved from Cedarhurst, New York to Sarasota, Florida, Ruth Townsend continued to type his manuscripts that were mailed from Florida to New York. (from Stockton Townsend, son of Ruth Townsend)

Alden Hatch's papers and those of his wife Allene reside in the Department of Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida's George A. Smathers Libraries. A guide is available here. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen E. Ambrose</span> American historian and writer (1936–2002)

Stephen Edward Ambrose was an American historian, most noted for his biographies of U.S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a longtime professor of history at the University of New Orleans and the author of many bestselling volumes of American popular history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph W. Martin Jr.</span> American politician (1884-1968)

Joseph William Martin Jr. was an American Republican politician who served as the 44th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949 and 1953 to 1955. He represented a House district centered on his hometown of North Attleborough, Massachusetts, from 1925 to 1967 and was the leader of House Republicans from 1939 until 1959, when he was ousted from leadership after the party's disastrous losses in the 1958 elections. He was the only Republican to serve as Speaker in a sixty-four year period from 1931 to 1995. He was a "compassionate conservative" who opposed the New Deal and supported the conservative coalition of Republicans and southern Democrats.

John William Jakes was an American writer, best known for historical and speculative fiction. His American Civil War trilogy, North and South, has sold millions of copies worldwide. He was also the author of The Kent Family Chronicles. Jakes used the pen name Jay Scotland among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hatch (actor)</span> American actor, writer and producer

Richard Lawrence Hatch was an American actor, writer, and producer. Hatch began his career as a stage actor before moving on to television work in the 1970s. Hatch is best known for his role as Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica television series. He is also widely known for his role as Tom Zarek in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Eisenhower</span> United States Army general, military historian, diplomat

John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower was a United States Army officer, diplomat, and military historian. He was a son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. His military career spanned from before, during, and after his father's presidency, and he left active duty in 1963 and then retired in 1974. From 1969 to 1971, Eisenhower served as United States Ambassador to Belgium during the administration of President Richard Nixon, who was previously his father's vice president and also father to Eisenhower's daughter-in-law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Lansing Dulles</span>

Eleanor Lansing Dulles was an American writer, professor, and United States government employee. Her background in economics and her familiarity with European affairs enabled her to fill a number of important State Department positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James R. Keene</span>

James Robert Keene was a Wall Street stockbroker and a major thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder.

Kenneth Sydney Davis was an American historian and university professor, most renowned for his series of biographies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Davis also wrote biographies of Charles Lindbergh, Adlai Stevenson, and authored the first biography of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, entitled Dwight D. Eisenhower: Soldier of Democracy.

Clifford Roberts was an American investment dealer and golf administrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarasota Times Building</span> United States historic place

The Sarasota Times Building is a historic site in Sarasota, Florida. It is located at 1214–1216 1st Street. On March 22, 1984, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The three-story asymmetrically-massed, stucco and cast stone façade, Mediterranean Revival structure was designed by architect Dwight James Baum. It is significant to Sarasota's heritage for its role as a newspaper established in 1899, and also for its architectural merits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keene Curtis</span> American actor (1923–2002)

Keene Holbrook Curtis was an American character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Considine</span> American journalist

Robert Bernard Considine, was an American journalist, author, and commentator. He is best known as the co-author of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and The Babe Ruth Story.

Robert John Donovan was a Washington correspondent, author and presidential historian. He died from complications from stroke.

Dwight James Baum was an American architect most active in New York and in Sarasota, Florida. His work includes Cà d'Zan, the Sarasota Times Building (1925), Sarasota County Courthouse (1926), early residences in Temple Terrace, Florida, Sarasota County Courthouse (1927), Pinecroft, West Side YMCA on 63rd Street between Central Park and Columbus Avenue, Columbus Circle (1934) and Hendricks Memorial Chapel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Twitchell</span> American architect

Ralph Spencer Twitchell was one of the founding members of the Sarasota School of Architecture. He is considered the father of the group of modernist architecture practitioners, that includes Paul Rudolph and Jack West, and other modernist architects who were active in the Sarasota area in the 1950s and 1960s like Ralph and William Zimmerman, Gene Leedy, Mark Hampton, Edward “Tim” Seibert, Victor Lundy, William Rupp, Bert Brosmith, Frank Folsom Smith, James Holiday, Joseph Farrell and Carl Abbott. He bridged the more traditional architecture of his early work in Florida during the 1920s with his modernist designs that began in the 1940s.

William Beatty Pickett is an American historian and professor emeritus at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. He is known as an authority on President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Indiana Sen. Homer E. Capehart, and is the author of several well-regarded books on U.S. history including Dwight David Eisenhower and American Power and Eisenhower Decides To Run: Presidential Politics and Cold War Strategy.

Wiley Thomas Buchanan, Jr. was an American diplomat and author who served as the Chief of Protocol of the United States and the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg and Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiss Residence</span> Historic house in Florida, United States

The Hiss Residence is a mid-century modern home designed by architect, Paul Rudolph. Built as the show home for Sarasota's Lido Shores neighborhood in 1953, the structure blends international style modernism with indigenous tropical design. It is among the preeminent works of the Sarasota School of Architecture and considered “one of the most remarkable homes of the twentieth century.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James S. Kemper</span> American businessman, philanthropist, and diploma

James Scott Kemper Sr. was a U.S. businessman, philanthropist, and diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil from 1953 to 1955 and as President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family of Dwight D. Eisenhower</span> List of members of the family of Dwight D. Eisenhower

The family of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, and his wife, Mamie, consists predominantly of German and Pennsylvania Dutch background. They are related by marriage to the family of Richard Nixon, who was Eisenhower's vice-president, and was later the 37th president of the United States.

References

  1. July 6, 1973 New York Times article on the death of Eric Hatch
  2. Milwaukee Journal - February 2, 1947
  3. St. Petersburg Times - Feb 2, 1975
  4. New York Times - February 2, 1975
  5. "Redirect to ASpace Finding Aid".