appetite for books also made him a formidable
writer, and later in his life his friends marveled at
the speed at which he read. In his autobiography
entitled THEBIGSEA, LANGSTONHUGHESde-
scribed Thurman as a voracious reader and
“strangely brilliant black boy,” one “who could read
eleven lines at a time” and “who had read every-
thing and whose critical mind could find something
wrong with everything he read.” Thurman pro-
duced an impressive amount of writing, including
short fiction for periodicals such as True Storythat
he submitted under the pseudonyms of PATRICK
CASEYand ETHELBELLEMANDRAKE. He founded
three literary journals, worked at several newspa-
pers, published three novels, saw one of his several
plays produced on BROADWAY, completed two
screenplays, and published numerous other writings
in contemporary periodicals and newspapers such
as the Los Angeles Sentinel, NEGROWORLD,THE
NEWREPUBLIC,THENEWYORKTIMES,and the In-
dependent.His nonfiction writing often featured
Harlem. Essays such as “Harlem: A Vivid Picture of
the World’s Greatest Negro City,” which appeared
in THEATLANTICMONTHLY,“Harlem Facets” in
the World Tomorrow,and “Harlem’s Place in the
Sun” in Dance Magazineexpanded the perspectives
of American readers about the thriving place where
Thurman had immersed himself.
Thurman began his journalism career at the
Los Angeles Sentinel,an African-American newspa-
per, where he worked as a staff reporter and also
produced a regular column entitled “Inklings.” In
1924, inspired by the thriving Harlem Renaissance
movement, Thurman attempted to launch a West
Coast literary magazine. He hoped that the publi-
cation would mirror the artistic efforts of his con-
temporaries on the East Coast. His first journal,
OUTLET,lasted only six months, but it illustrated
Thurman’s commitment to providing a forum for
writers of color and to drawing attention to the
rich tradition of African-American writing.
When he relocated to New York City in 1925,
Thurman shared rooms with Arna Bontemps, his
former Post Office colleague. Thurman found work
soon after his arrival. He began working as an ele-
vator operator and then made contact with
THEOPHILUSLEWIS, publisher of THE LOOKING
GLASS.Thurman then began work as a reporter
and editor for the publication. As scholar Phyllis
Klotman notes, Thurman, who received no pay
but did get regular meals for his work, was an “ev-
erything man” at The Looking Glass,where he was
an “editorial writer, reporter, assistant make-up
man, and errand boy.” In 1926, with the help of an
enthusiastic recommendation from Lewis, Thur-
man joined the staff of THEMESSENGER, the jour-
nal that A. PHILIP RANDOLPH and CHANDLER
OWEN established in 1917. Thurman was ap-
pointed managing editor of the journal and filled
the post recently held by GEORGESCHUYLER. Like
JESSIEFAUSETat THECRISISand later DOROTHY
WESTat CHALLENGE,Thurman used his contacts
with writers to solicit manuscripts that would en-
rich the publication. It was he who published the
first short stories by Langston Hughes, a friend
whom he would later describe as “the most close-
mouthed and cagey individual I had ever knownThurman, Wallace Henry 519Wallace Thurman (Yale Collection of American
Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)