European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 11, 1947, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Brash Bookman by Werner prym a Nickel novel is publisher Ernst Row hits profitable answer to Germany vexing paper shortage schnapps Loving Ernst Rowohlt is probably the worlds most stubborn two world wars and the hectic of political events have played catch an toss with his career As head of one of Germany biggest Book but at sixty he has bounced blithely Back into the publishing business for the fourth time in Lour the current reappearing which has brought his Rowohlt Back into the forefront of the German publishing Industry is prob ably his Brash est his Rodoro editions trademark of Rowohlt rotations published with out bindings on Ordinary newspaper Stock in newspaper bring the boo starved German Public the works of once banned foreign writers at the Price of half a Mark a in terms of american this goes the traditional dime novel one Row hits Nickel novel May be the beginning of a tradition in its own hunger for literature in Germany was never so great As Rowohlt explains in a humorous there is a whole generation of Ger mans who dont know anything about Pood Sinclair andr6 Joseph hardly remember the there Are so Many important books published in foreign countries during the Hitler period that id like to if Only there were enough he Germany would be a Paradise for the Rodoro venture is Row hits Compromise wit the paper shortage in bringing about this Ideal he was already known to fellow publishers and booksellers As something of a character and Roro to was at first regarded As just an other reckless in Germany there had always been a decided preference for books and a definite shyness among the Public toward cheap recent have forced the German Reading Public to change its expensive Rowohlt and the Success of his under taking has borne him because of the crisis in Supply of it takes at least nine months to put an Ordinary Book through the from printing to with a bold disregard for these claims he can turn out one of his newsprint editions of a Book in about ten from the time he receives a manuscript to the time the Book is ready for up to editions have been limited to a Hundred Rowohlt i could easily sell a a personal Friend of High ranking and bestselling american writers like Sinclair Ernest Heming Way and the late Thomas whose works he introduced in trans lation in prewar Rowohlt Hast always thought in such Large when he opened his first publishing in a fourth floor room of a Small Paris hotel in his first volume of since forgotten poems called Midsummer night to Only a few Hundred he have the background for dealing in big Rowohlt father was a Bremen broker and Young Ernst had served an apprenticeship in after his false Start in Paris he went to Leipzig and started a full fledged publishing firm there in his first literary protege was a now Bee consuming eccentric by the name of Paul who had been tinkering with an invention for a perpetual motion Scheerbarth wrote a Book about his invention and Rowohlt published the sales of the Book were spectacularly poor until Rowohlt put his business his natural at that All Berlin subway had boo stands owned by the big George Stilke distributing Rowohlt took a ride from one end of the subway system to the other stopping at every station along the Way and inquiring at every boo stand for that Scheerbarth Book every one is talking of course none of the Sale clerks had Ever heard of the but Rowohlt deposited the Price of a copy at each stall and explained that he would Call Back next Day for the that night the Stilke com Pany got so Many requests from their boo stands for the Scheerbarth Book that they sent an express order to in May the British Rowohlt with favorite edition of his favorite novel Leipzig for two thousand never had to use this business trick Rowohlt with his next sex pensively printed editions of the French poets Verlaine and Rowohlt stepped up into the higher his How was halted for the first time by the outbreak of world War during which he served in the kaisers in Rowohlt Verag was re established and quickly became famous for its publications of inter National Joseph Jules William Francis Hackett Ana Peter in addition to Lewis and were among the foreign writers whose works Rowohlt sponsored in Rowohlt Verag ran into political trouble when Hitler took Over the German government some of the Rowohlt books were confiscated almost As fast As they came off the of the one Hundred forty books his company put out in the next few seventy were the nazi press attacked him for having helped to make jewish writers like Emil Ludwig in Row hits License was taken away because of political in reliability and he and his brazilian wife sailed for he worked briefly for a travel guide publication and then spent a few months on a breaking horses and buying Rowohlt gave up the outdoor life to return to the waterland in december he says he had been Dis gusted by the political attitudes of the German Colony in South he he had been Given reason to Hope that the War would soon be ended and the nazis removed by a revolt of wehrmacht Rowohlt promptly found out How wrong this guess was when he was drafted into the German army which seemed to have no parti Cular intention of giving up its the political unreliability charge followed and he was thrown out of the he had just been draft arrived in Halburg and forestalled the Row hit military within a he had been licensed in Hamburg to reopen his publishing House and within a comparatively Short time his son had secured a License fro the americans to publish in where Rowohlt Verag now among other Penguin a Young Peoples and a monthly anthology of foreign de into the Volks weekend photograph interest in the United Rowohlt is much greater now than before the cd figures seem to reflect showing that rights to seventy six american books have been sold to German publishers and at least thir teen More Are expected to be sold within the near there Are a number of mostly Finan involved in the publishing of american writers Over but in this respect Rowohlt is running from a head Start because of his prewar reputation among american he has already printed a Rodoro edition of Hemingway a Farewell to arms Row hits favorite in the course of recent known for his Manly wrote him a rather Hemingway ish Little dear it we both have been in this i killed Many krauts and i suppose you killed Many americans its Good we did not kill each so lets work together you can have the rights next another recent letter which makes Rowohlt think Back a Little fondly to the prewar Days is this one from Sinclair Lewis dear what Joy i had in receiving your letter the first word Ive heard from you in years i would like you to publish All my books again Ive thought of you a thousand times and burned Many a Candle for your safety As to Ive been working a lot and old pal forever although Rowohlt thinks pretty highly of Lewis As an he re Calls him perhaps even More affect Monaly As a drinking Accord ing to the Lewis and Rowohlt never so much As Shook hands without opening a it was at Row hits Berlin Home that Lewis met Dorothy the news paper correspondent who later be came his his Rowohlt was pretty much in the lewites Domestic which had its turbulent one of these came late in when Lewis and Rowohlt went on a Binge lasting from Christmas until new while Dorothy Lay forlornly in a stricken with acute it was Lewis who introduced Rowohlt to the work of a Young author named Thomas who now is regarded As one of americas great of this to much arranged to publish wolfes books Here and later became a close personal Friend of Wolfe As Well As the Model for one of the characters in wolfes Netto theist the web and the whose Gargantuan appetites have already become Legen seems to have ranked pretty High among Rowohlt favorite liter Ary drinking once Rowohlt sent in new a Case of his favorite German the author cabled Back that he had received the wine and liked it very apparently he liked it too Well to wait for the next for six Days later he suddenly turned up in very Rowohlt sums up his career in terms of i never had an he who didst like his that kept us to but it was always with Sinclair Lewis that he was in closest this want just a matter of Rowohlt he liked Lewis also because he never talked about his own he liked to Rowohlt himself liked to especially in duet with his favorite when we were Rowohlt recalls we Sang in the Berlin bars they used to Call me 19