{image1}It's always August in Sauk City. You can't go very far in this town on the Wisconsin River without running across some evidence of August Derleth, one of the most prolific authors of his time.
A society intent on keeping Derleth's legacy alive has a walking tour that runs from his home as a boy to his favorite bridge. When you learn of Derleth's writings, you understand why this group is so proud of their late native son.
Derleth, born in 1909 and productive until his death in 1971, was considered one of the most prolific writers of his day. By his own estimates, more than 3,000 of his works appeared in 350 magazines around the world. That estimate undoubtedly is conservative.
Included in Derleth's resume were The Commonwealth, The Yale Review, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Saturday Review and many other giants of the magazine publishing industry. Redbook published so many of his works, and five of his books, that his home, "Place of Hawks," was referred to as "the House that Redbook built."
He published more than 150 books, including some for children, and covered a variety of genres, ranging from mysteries to historical novels. He also was an accomplished poet.
All this is very impressive for a guy who started out just trying to tell the story of Sac Prairie, the name he used for his hometown and sister town, Prairie du Sac, in his writings. He sold his first short story to "Weird Tales" and never stopped.
Derleth did much of his early writings with schoolmate Mark Schorer, who earned his own reputation as a literary critic and novelist.
During four years at the University of Wisconsin, Derleth was influenced deeply by Helen Constance White, a novelist and teacher. He started work on, "Evening in Spring," an autobiographical novel, and a group of pastiches of Sherlock Holmes called The Solar Pons stories.
Derleth served in an editorial post for a Minneapolis-based publishing house for a while, but decided to return home to seriously go about writing, "During this time I had evolved the plan to tell the story of Sauk City and its twin village, Prairie du Sac, in a sequence of approximately 50 books, combining novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, journal extracts and miscellaneous prose under the collective title of the Sac Prairie Saga," Derleth wrote.
"This plan might have been stillborn had it not been for the encouragement of my maternal grandmother, Mrs. Elizabeth Volk, and the patience and forebearance of my parents, who permitted me to live at home for almost a decade after I left my position in Minneapolis early in 1931 and came home determined to do or die as a writer."
Derleth definitely did, rather than died, as a writer. He was said to write about 5,000 words a day when working on a book, while often also writing some poetry and short stories on the side.
In 1934, his novel, "Murder Stalks the Wakely Family," featuring what would become one of his famous characters, Judge Peck, received wide acclaim.
He won several awards over the next few years, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1938 for his continuing work on the Sac Prairie Saga. The legendary Sinclair Lewis openly praised his work through this period.
An admirer of Henry Thoreau, Derleth wrote "Walden West" and "Return to Walden West"; of course, playing off Walden Pond.
Derleth's novels often drew from Wisconsin history and state historic figures. Hercules Dousman, one of the state's first millionaires and the builder of the famed Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien, was a central figure in "Bright Journey" and "The House on the Mound."
Nelson Dewey, the state's first governor, was featured in "The Shadow in the Glass." Alexander Mitchell, an early financier, was a central figure in "The Wind Leans West," which is said to give an extraordinarily accurate description of early Milwaukee.
Derleth's success allowed him to build his dream home. "In 1939 I bought 10 acres of land just west of Sauk City, a locally historic, heavily wooded spot, and there had a house of stone built for me, largely by my father, a skilled carpenter, one large enough to house my comics collection, my personal library (12,000 books), my record collection, and my even larger Arkham House stock," Derleth wrote. He married and had two children, who he raised at the Place of Hawks.
Despite his success, Derleth knew he suffered at times from a couple rather common stereotypes -- prolific writers can't produce quality works and any writer who stays in the Midwest must be parochial. "My prolificity is a matter of economic necessity, and I have no doubt that the quality of my work has suffered to some extent because of its necessary quantity," he wrote in 1961.
"The variety of my writing in itself keeps me from tiring of the creative process. One reviewer said of me in reviewing 'Village Year' that it was evident that I had 'traveled as widely in Sac Prairie as Thoreau did in Concord,' which has always been my
intention, since Sac Prairie is not only the center of my world but also the microcosm which reflects the macrocosm.
"I am much attached to this corner of the earth, not only because my family has lived here for over a century, but because it possesses great natural beauty in abundance, and it affords me that continuity in time and place which I find necessary for my well being as a person and as a writer."
Sauk City has done a good job of showing it appreciated Derleth. A park is named after him. His boyhood home is preserved, as are homes of some of his characters.
Leystra's Restaurant, featuring "Augie's Room," where he often hung out, is on the walking tour. So is Derleth's final resting place.
Sauk City and the surrounding area also feature some beautiful Wisconsin River scenery. You can watch eagles soar along the river and enjoy some great fishing at the right times of the year.
The August Derleth Society continues to publish some of his works and maintains a Web site at derleth.org. The August Derleth Prizes are given annually to some of the most promising writers in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin.
But, if you really want to get some real insight into Wisconsin's most prolific author, go beyond Milwaukee and visit the town that inspired his life's work.
