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Lucius Beebe
[1902-66]
| short profile |  |
"[Society columnist Lucius Beebe] must have a great respect for the truth since he very rarely uses it." — Tallulah Bankhead
Lucius Beebe [1902-66] was a journalist who coined the term 'café society', which was a milieu that he both lived in
and documented; he was also famous for his love of history and railroads.
B I O
t e x t
h e r e
inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 1992
Lucius Beebe entry at Wikipedia
incomplete Lucius Beebe credits at Internet Movie Database
Primary Works
search books by author 'Lucius+Morris+Beebe' {returns 39 titles}
search books by keyword 'Lucius+Beebe' {returns 229 titles}
¨ ¨
"The Awful Seeley Diner" [F.R. Publng, 1932]
"People On Parade" [1934] with Jerome Zerbe
"Boston and The Boston Legend" [D. Appleton-Century Company, 1935]
"The Ritz Idea: The Story of A Great Hotel" [privately published 1936]
"High Iron: A Book of Trains" [D. Appleton-Century Company 1938]
"Highliners: A Railroad Album" [D. Appleton-Century Company 1940]
"Trains In Transition" [D. Appleton-Century Company 1941]
"Snoot If You Must" [D. Appleton-Century Company 1943] ISBN 0-8015-7882-5
"Highball: A Railroad Pageant" [D. Appleton-Century Company 1945] ISBN 0-517-00420-8]
"The Stork Club Bar Book" [Rinehart, 1946] ISBN 0-9743259-1-0
"The Narrow Gauge Railroads of Colorado" [1946] by Lucius Morris Beebe /B0007EAZ0O/
http://www.amazon.com/Narrow-Gauge-Rockies-Lucius-Beebe/dp/B0007DY4AM/
"Mixed Train Daily: A Book of Short-line Railroads" [E.P. Dutton & Co. 1947]
"The Plaza: Fortieth Anniversary, 1907-1947" [Hilton Hotels, 1947]
 | "Virginia & Truckee: A Story of Virginia City and Comstock Times" [1949] by Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg 64-page booklet with $1.00 cover price originally published by Graham H. Hardy of Oakland, CA Nevada State RR Museum 8¾x5½ pb [1991] out of print/used Howell-North Books 5th edition 8¾x6 pb [1963] out of print/used Howell-North Books 8¾x6 pb [1963] out of print/used |
"Legends of The Comstock Lode" [Oakland, CA: Grahame H. Hardy 1950] with Charles Clegg
"Cable Car Carnival" [Oakland, CA: Grahame H. Hardy 1951] with Charles Clegg
"Hear The Train Blow: A Pictorial Epic of America In The Railroad Age" [Dutton, 1952] with Charles Clegg
"Comstock Commotion: The Story of The Territorial Enterprise and Virginia City News" [Stanford Univ Press.(1954).
"The American West: The Pictorial Epic of A Continent" [E.P. Dutton and Co. 1955] with Charles Clegg
"The Age of Steam: A Classic Album of American Railroading" [Rinehart & Co. 1957] by Beebe & Clegg
http://www.amazon.com/Age-Steam-Lucius-Beebe/dp/0883940795/
http://www.amazon.com/Age-Steam-Classic-American-Railroading/dp/0831070951/
http://www.amazon.com/Steam-Lucius-Beebe-Charles-hardcover/dp/B00L8H7HKU/
 | "Steamcars To The Comstock: The Virginia & Truckee Railroad and The Carson & Colorado Railroad" [1957] by Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg Darwin Publns 1st edition pb [1957] out of print/used Howell-North Books 3rd edition 11¼x8¼ hardcover [6/70] out of print/many used Howell-North Books 3rd edition 11¼x8 hardcover [1963] out of print/used Howell-North Books 1st edition hardcover [1957] out of print/used |
"Narrow Gauge In The Rockies" [Howell-North 1958] with Charles Clegg
"Mansions On Rails: The Folklore of The Private Railway Car" [Howell-North 1959]
 | "Mr. Pullman's Elegant Palace Car: The Railway Carriage That Established A New Dimension of Luxury and Entered The National Lexicon As A Symbol of Splendor" [1961] by Lucius Beebe 575-page Doubleday & Co. 11x8¾ hardcover [1961] out of print/used |
"San Francisco's Golden Era: A Picture Story of San Francisco Before The Fire" [Howell-North 1960] with Charles Clegg
"20th Century: The Greatest Train In The World" [Howell-North 1962]
"Rio Grande: Mainline of The Rockies" [Howell-North, 1962] by Lucius Morris Beebe & Charles Clegg /B0007F0CII/
"When Beauty Rode The Rails: An Album of Railroad Yesterdays" [Doubleday 1962] with Charles Clegg
"The Overland Limited" [Howell-North Books 1963]
"The Central Pacific & Southern Pacific Railroads" [Howell-North 1963]
"Great Railroad Photographs, U.S.A." [Howell-North 1964] with Charles Clegg
"Two Trains To Remember: The New England Limited, The Air Line Limited" [Virginia City, NV: privately published 1965]
"The Trains We Rode. Volume I. Alton - New York Central" [Howell-North 1965] with Charles Clegg
"The Trains We Rode. Volume II. Northern Pacific - Wabash" [Howell-North 1966] with Charles Clegg
"The Big Spenders" [Doubleday & Co. 1966]
"The Provocative Pen of Lucius Beebe, Esq." [Chronicle Publng Co. 1966] Edited by Scott Newhall
 | "The Lucius Beebe Reader" [1967] Selected & Edited by Charles Clegg & Duncan Emrich Hutchinson's U.K. hardcover [1969] out of print/used Doubleday & Co. 9½x6½ hardcover [1967] out of print/used |
Other Works
"Fallen Stars" [Cornhill Publng 1921]
"Corydon and Other Poems" [B.J. Brimmer, 1924]
"Edwin Arlington Robinson and The Arthurian Legend" [1927]
http://www.amazon.com/EDWIN-ARLINGTON-ROBINSON-ARTHURIAN-LEGEND/dp/B00CXQBJPO/
"Aspects of The Poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson" [Dunster House 1928]
http://www.amazon.com/Aspects-Poetry-Arlington-Robinson-Limited/dp/B00AF5QO00/
Gold Coast private railcar
The first private railcar owned & restored by Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg was the Gold Coast. Built in 1905 as wooden Central of Georgia RR officer’s car #97;
sold to Georgia Northern as #100; sold in 1948 to Beebe & Clegg as a private railcar, which they decorated in Victorian style; sold to R&LHS
Pacific Coast Chapter; donated 8/1969 to C.S.R.M.; restored to 1948-1950 appearance by C.S.R.M. & currently on indoor display
at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.
Piper-Beebe House in Virginia City, Nevada
Located at 2 South A Street in Virginia City; built by architect A. F. Mackay, whose family lived there for a decade; occupied by Edward Piper (Piper's Opera House) and family until 1949; sold to Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg, who hired Hollywood set-designer Robert T. Hanley to re-do the house 'in a full explosion of Victorian vulgarity'. Sold after Clegg's death in 1979; listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993; currently privately-owned & not open to the public.
National Park Service official website • entry at Wikipedia
Virginia City private railcar
The second private railcar owned & restored by Lucius Beebe & Charles Clegg was the Virginia City. Built by Pullman in 1928 as the heavy steel sleeper-lounge open platform observation car Crystal Peak; air-conditioning and other improvements in 1936; renamed Golden Peak in 1938; Pullman-owned pool service car until 1950. Purchased in 1954 by Beebe & Clegg and reconfigured (sleeps six) at Western Pacific RR shops in Sacramento; Hollywood set-designer Robert T. Hanley redecorated the car in 'Venetian Renaissance Baroque' style, installing $375,000 in antique furnishings. Sold in 1984 to Redwood City businessman Wade Pellizzer; mechanically upgraded; currently available for charter at its own official website.
Movies, Plays, Other Media
incomplete Lucius Beebe credits at Internet Movie Database
"Cafe Society" [Paramount Feb 1939] /tt0031129/
uncredited advisor to the film, in which he appeared
Cecil B. DeMille's "Union Pacific" [Paramount April 1939] /tt0032080/
Beebe was uncredited technical advisor
"The Silver Spiral" [Feb 1959] episode of "State Trooper" syndicated TV series /tt0709727/
both Beebe & Clegg appeared as themselves
Works About Lucius Beebe
 |
"Railroading Journeys: The Life and Times of Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg" [2007]
32-page issue #18 of Railroad Heritage Magazine from 2007; Introduction by CC's sister, Ann Clegg Holloway; 59 photographs, mostly by Beebe or Clegg. Center for Railroad Photography & Art magazine issue [11/2007] for $14.95 + s/h |
Image Gallery
![Beebe Estate [built 1828] in Melrose, MA](images/BeebeEstate1828.jpg)
Family & Friends
Lucius Morris Beebe was born in 1902 in Wakefield, Massachusetts; he died at age 63 in Hillsboro, California.
father Junius Beebe [1854-1934], prominent Boston banker
mother Eleanor Harriet Merrick Beebe [1865-1939], married 1886
partner photographer Jerome Zerbe [1904-88], together 1930s browse books • entry at Wikipedia Zerbe's 50,000 photo archive is owned by billionaire Frederick R. Koch of NYC |  |
partner photographer Charles M. Clegg, Jr. [1916-79], together 1940-1966 browse books • entry at Wikipedia |  |
L i n k s
Lucius Beebe Memorial Library [rebuilt 1923] in Wakefield, MA - named after his namesake/grandfather
Beebe Estate [built 1828, deeded to city 1963] in Melrose, MA
writer Lucius Beebe [1902-66] Page at Spirit of America Bookstore
top of page • short profile • primary works • other works • works about Lucius Beebe
movies, plays, other media • image gallery • family & friends • links
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