Spirit of America Bookstore
Jack Woodford
[1894-1971]
| short profile |  |
“Characterization is an accident that flows out of action and dialogue.”
“Money talks. And writes. And publishes. And reviews. But it can't read.”
“There is only one love story: Boy meets girl; girl gets boy into pickle; boy gets pickle into girl.”
“One of your first jobs, as you write for money, will be to get rid of your vocabulary.”
— Jack Woodford
B I O
t e x t
h e r e
Josiah Pitts Woolfolk was born in Chicago, Illinois on 25 March 1894; he became quite famous as pulp writer Jack Woodford in the 1940s and 1950s, and died on 16 May 1971 at Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia (possibly of Alzheimer's),
his many pseudonyms also included J.P. Woolfolk, Howard Hogue Kennedy, Gordon Sayre, and Sappo Henderson Britt.
he sold over 1,000 short stories to over 60 periodicals
Jack Woodford entry at Wikipedia
browse books at the Jack Woodford Store {returns 80+ titles} at Amazon
search for books on keywords 'jack woodford' {returns 160+ titles} at Amazon
Jack Woodford credits [1934-52] at Internet Movie Database
Non-Fiction by Jack Woodford
browse books at the Jack Woodford Store {returns 80+ titles} at Amazon
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 | "Trial and Error: A Dithyramb On The Subject of Writing & Selling" [1933] by Jack Woodford, Introduction by Arnold Gingrich, editor of Esquire 'The Definitive Guide For Young Writers' Kessinger Publng 8¾x6 pb [3/2007] for $23.52 Woodford Memorial Editions 8¼x5½ pb [6/80] out of print/used Kessinger Publng 9¼x6½ hardcover [6/2008] for $34.92 Garden City Publng 7¾x5¼ hardcover [1940] out of print/used book entry at Wikipedia |
"Tale Incredible: The True Story of Harry Stephen Keeler's Literary Rise" [1934 article]
short article about Harry Stephen Keeler by Woodford published in the October 1934 issue of 10 Story Book Magazine
online text [1.41MB .PDF file] posted in 2003
 | "Anybody Can Write A Sex Novel - says famous Jack Woodford" article [August 1938] as well as 16 other articles & short stories, in roughly 60 pages Pulp Tales Press facsimile 10x7 pb [11/2013] for $15.00 read magazine as etext [2/2016 upload] online at Internet Archive |
"Plotting: How To Have A Brain Child" [1939]
 | "Writing and Selling" [1940] by Jack Woodford, Introduction by Arnold Gingrich, editor of Esquire Perma Giants Edition hardcover [1949] out of print/used Star Books hardcover [1940] out of print/used |
 | "Why Write A Novel?" [1943] by Jack Woodford later self-published as "How To Write and Sell A Novel" "Woodford knows the writing game and what he says about it is very much to the point." — cover blurb by Upton Sinclair [1878-1968] HTWSN: Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [3/2007] for $21.24 HTWSN: Kessinger Publng 9x6 hardcover [6/2008] for $32.64 HTWSN: Woodford Press hardcover [1948] out of print/used WWAN?: Murray & Gee hardcover [1943] out of print/used |
"Plotting For Every Kind of Writing" []
"How To Write For Money" [1944]
"The Loud Literary Lamas of New York" [1950]
"Writer's Cramp" [1953]
 | "Jack Woodford On Writing" [1980] Compiled, selected & edited by Jess E. Stewart includes Introductory Notes, "Writer's Cramp" (complete), "Trial and Error" (excerpts), "How To Write and Sell A Novel" (excerpts), "How To Write For Money" (excerpts), "Plotting" (excerpts), and 'Citizen Arrest' (short story) Woodford Memorial Editions 8½x5½ pb [4/81] out of print/used Woodford Memorial Editions 8½x5½ pb [4/81] out of print/used |
 | "The Autobiography of Jack Woodford" [1962] published as written by {real name} J.P. Woolfolk Kindle Edition from ... [9/00] for $0.00 PUB pb [8/00] for $0.00 hardcover [8/00] for $0.00 out of print/used |
"Home Away From Home" [1962] - a follow-up to the Autobiography describing the author's incarceration
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Away-Jack-Woodford/dp/B001NRCYVW/
"How To Make Your Friends and Murder Your Enemies" [posthumous 1981]
"The Rabelaisian Letters of Jack Woodford" []
"The Secret Confessions of Joseph Stalin: A 3rd-dimensional Creative Confession of Life and Destiny" []
Fiction by Jack Woodford
browse books at the Jack Woodford Store {returns 80+ titles} at Amazon
search for books on keywords 'jack woodford' {returns 160+ titles} at Amazon
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alphabetical at this point (2017), will be re-arranged as chronological as data is collected
"Find The Motive" []
"Five Fatal Days" []
"Four Eves" []
"Free Lovers" []
"Gentleman From Parnassus" []
"God's Lap" []
"Here Is My Body" []
"Hoof-Hearted: A New Novel" []
"Illegitimate" []
"Illicit" []
"Indecent?" [] / aka "Illicit" []
"Iris" []
"Mirage of Marriage" []
"Person To Person Call" []
"Possessed" []
"Rented Wife" []
"She Liked The Man" []
"Sin and Such" []
"Strangers In Love" []
"Surrender" []
"Temptress" []
"Unmoral" []
"Vice Versa" []
"White Heat" []
"Evangelical Cockroach" [1929] - collection of 29 seriously sardonic short stories, including the classic title piece; arguably Woodford's best work, comparable to a cross between O.Henry, De Maupassant, and Hemingway. (Dustjacket illustration of erudite insect by John M. Meekison.)
http://www.amazon.com/Evangelical-Cockroach-Jack-Woodford/dp/1605435988/
"City Limits" novel [1932] by Jack Woodford
Woodford Press hardcover [1947] out of print/used
William Godwin, Inc. hardcover [1932] out of print/used
 | "City Limits" feature film [Monogram Pictures April 1934] A railroad tycoon under great pressure in a merger is sent on vacation by his doctor; the tycoon falls off his private railcar and lands in a hobo jungle, and learns how to really enjoy life in ways he never knew were possible • Directed by William Nigh; loosely adapted by George Waggner from the novel by Jack Woodford; starring Frank Craven, Sally Blane, Frank Albertson, Ray Walker, Claude Gillingwater, James Burke, Jimmy Conlin, Jane Keckley, Henry Roquemore, George 'Gabby' Hayes & George Cleveland VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb watch full movie [6/2010 upload; 1:05:03] online at Internet Archive |
 | "Father Steps Out" feature film [Monogram Pictures July 1941] remake of "City Limits" [1934] above; directed by Jean Yarbrough; script by George Waggner, without credit to Jack Woodford; starring Jed Prouty, Lorna Gray, Frank Albertson, Frank Faylen, John Dilson, Charlie Hall, Kathryn Sheldon & Tristram Coffin VHS/DVD/Blu-ray not available • full credits at IMDb |
"Lady Killers" [1935] writing as Howard Kennedy
"The Abortive Hussy" [Avon #146, 1947]
"The Hard-Boiled Virgin" [1947]
"Grounds For Divorce (Love At Last)" [1948]
"Ecstasy Girl" [1948]
"Three Gorgeous Hussies" [1948]
"Traded Lives" [1948]
https://www.amazon.com/Traded-Lives-Jack-WOODFORD/dp/B000TVSX1S/
"Journey To Passion" [1950] - Revised version of "God's Lap"
"Male and Female" [1950]
"Passion In The Pines" [1956]
"The College Crowd" [1963]
Joint Fiction
Jack started The Woodford Press and published books with his name attached, either as editor or as co-author.
 |
"Flesh and Other Stories" [1949] by Clement Wood, Introduction by Jack Woodford
Kindle Edition from ... [9/00] for $0.00 PUB pb [8/00] for $0.00 hardcover [8/00] for $0.00 out of print/used |
"Love In Lousiana" [] with John B. Thompson
"Sincerely Yours" [1951] with John B. Thompson
http://www.amazon.com/Sincerely-Yours-Jack-Woodford/dp/B001EODZM6/
"Smouldering" [1953] with Gordon Greene
http://www.amazon.com/Smouldering-Jack-Woodford/dp/B000K0EQ4G/
"Taboo" [1953] with Gordon Greene
http://www.amazon.com/Taboo-Jack-Gordon-Greene-Woodford/dp/B00C3O3KN0/
"Tainted" [1953 with Conrad Carter
http://www.amazon.com/Tainted-Jack-Woodford/dp/B000JI08VY/
JWtwocanplayJR.jpg [] with Jeanne Renée
  | "Vice Versa: A Fantastic Novel Addressed To The Engagingly Mad and The Wholly Unconstructive" [1935] by Jack Woodford, with Bruce McFarlane
Signature Press hardcover [1953] out of print/used Godwin hardcover [1935] out of print/used |
JWwiththesetwohandsJRT.jpg [] with John B. Thompson
Movies, Stageplays, Other Media
Jack Woodford credits [1934-52] at Internet Movie Database
"Murders In The Zoo" [Paramount Pictures March 1933] /tt0024360/
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland; Randolph Scott portrays character 'Dr. Jack Woodford'
"City Limits" [1934] - as above - based on Jack's 1932 novel
"What Do You Think? (Number Three)" short film [1938] screenplay /tt0354202/
"Anaesthesia" short film [1938] writer /tt0029869/
"The Magician's Daughter" short film [1938] screenplay /tt0196731/
"Happily Buried" short film [1939] writer /tt0133840/
"With A Song In My Heart" Technicolor™ musical feature [Fox April 1952] /tt0045333/
Directed by Walter Lang; written by Lamar Trotti; song "Hoe That Corn" co-written by Jack Woodford
http://www.amazon.com/Song-My-Heart-Froman-Story/dp/B000UZDO3K/
Works About Jack Woodford
"My Years With Capone: Jack Woodford and Al Capone, 1924-1932" [1985] by Neil Elliott
unreliable (fictional?) interview book about Woodford's supposed relationship with mob boss Capone
Publisher Woodford Memorial Editions,
ISBN 0960157441, 9780960157440
"The Ghost of Jack Woodford" biography [2005] by Keith Nichols
Woodford Memorial Editions pb [2005] out of print/scarce
Image Gallery
Family & Friends
[ Coming Soon ] **
wife Josephine Hutchings Woolfolk [1900-??] - married 1916, divorced 1933
daughter Louella Woolfolk [1919-??]
wrote under the pen name Louella Woodford, including the novel "Maid Unafraid" [Godwin 1937]
Woodford Memorial Editions, Inc. in Seattle, Washington
publisher Jess E. Stewart; phone 206/364-4167
there was a very nice website, but it got hijacked by an evil Japanese squatter in 2016.
L i n k s
Jack Woodford credits [1934-52] at Internet Movie Database
here on the Jack Woodford [1894-1971] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
links here as at top
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