Student Author

The name is Perkins, James Perkins. Be on the lookout for it because behind it is a Dartmouth man you would like to know. You can get to know him through the fine prose he is writing which, very much like the author himself, is straightforward and relaxed. At only 21, Jim has achieved what many would-be authors have been seeking since before he was born: publication in the Saturday Evening Post and other national magazines.

Jim did his first writing at Williston Academy where, as circulation manager of a school publication, he applied himself to turning out clearly written names and addresses on envelopes. Beyond such literary endeavor, he didn't give the muse time to come to rest on his shoulder: he was on the football and baseball teams and excelled in swimming.

He got right into the swim of things at Dartmouth as a freshman and in his sophomore year he earned a varsity "D" as a sprinter who, it seemed, spent most of his time in the pool. In the middle of his junior year he came up for air and after having an article published, decided to devote all of his spare time to writing. His first work in a major magazine was "The Last of the Heath Hens," published in Field and Stream.

Since then one word has led to another. His article in the Post on salmon fishing, "The Trophy Hunters of Discovery Passage," was published last November. He had a fine piece in the Town Journal on Parker Merrow '25 and that Perkins name will appear again soon under "She'll Never Believe This," a short story for Field andStream. During the last few weeks Jim has been working on "China's Flying Cats," a two-part Post serial on civil air transport in the Far East, with Corey Ford, that esteemed and honored adopted member of 1921.

Jim, a native of Littleton, N. H., lives at Corey's home in Hanover which is about the most open "open house" in town. Harassed student editors and hopeful student authors are in and out at all hours and Dartmouth's wrestlers and boxers work out in the Ford gym which adjoins the house. If it were not for their second-floor hideouts, Jim and Corey wouldn't be able to hear themselves type.

Occasionally they get away from it all on trips to Europe, Mexico, Northern Canada, Alaska or the West Indies in search of material for articles. Corey, who has always had a sort of built-in Geiger counter for story ore is a good one to be with on such jaunts. Jim made a long trip last summer visiting Air Force installations to get notes for an article on the Air Force ROTC program. He is a cadet in the unit at Dartmouth and will combine his writing ability with the insights of a member of the corps.

He has a lot of other ideas for stories and articles and some have already been ordered by his editors. His writing reflects his interests as a sportsman and we expect that it will always condition and enrich what he writes. He is a good photographer also, and his Rolleflex shots have been used several times as magazine illustrations.

The courses that Jim has liked most at Dartmouth are as varied as his interests: Herb West's Comparative Literature, Professor Dimitroff's Astronomy and Professor Childs' Shakespeare. His major is Sociology and he is now at work on a 20,000 word thesis on the rise of nationalism in Turkey which may or may not rate an "A" from his professor, but at Post rates would be worth a small fortune.

Jim will be married this summer before starting his flight training. His future as a writer seems assured and after a hitch in the Air Force we'll be hearing a lot from him. So watch for the by-lines and remember, the name is Perkins, James Perkins.

Jim Perkins '55