Description:

Mystery Lover Harry Truman Thanks New York Columnist for Book by Perry Mason Author

Former President Harry S. Truman thanks New York Post columnist Leonard Lyons for a copy of The Case of the Bigamous Spouse by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970), author of the Perry Mason series of detective novels. At the time of his death, Gardner was the best-selling American author of the twentieth century.

HARRY S. TRUMAN, Typed Letter Signed, to Leonard Lyons, August 21, 1961, Independence, Missouri. 1 p. + envelope with printed franking signature on envelope, 7.25" x 10.5", on "Harry S Truman / Independence, Missouri" stationery. Very good.

Excerpt:
"Thank you very much for your kindness in sending me Erle Stanley Gardner's book 'The Case of the Bigamous Spouse'. I more than appreciate your thoughtfulness in sending it to me."

Historical Background:
Erle Stanley Gardner wrote a prodigious number of books, including more than eighty Perry Mason novels and a variety of novels and non-fiction works under several pseudonyms. He published the Perry Mason novel The Case of the Bigamous Spouse in April 1961. In the novel, door-to-door encyclopedia saleswoman Gwynn Elston stays with her friend Nell Grimes. While making a sale at another house, Elston realizes that Nell Grimes's husband Felton Grimes has another wife, who knows him as Frank Gillette. When he makes a pass at Elston, she tells Felton Grimes that she knows about his bigamy. She fears that he has tried to poison her, and turns to Perry Mason, who learns that there was strychnine in her drink. When Felton Grimes is found dead, authorities charge Elston with his murder, and Perry Mason defends her.

The novel served as the basis for Episode 7 of Season 7 of the Perry Mason television series starring Raymond Burr. The episode first aired in November 1963.

Both Harry Truman and Bess Truman loved to read mysteries, and Gardner regularly sent autographed copies of his books to the Trumans as they were published.

Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) was born in Missouri and joined the Missouri National Guard in 1905. He served in World War I as a lieutenant and then captain in the 129th Field Artillery in France. Truman first won elective office in 1922, winning a judge's seat on the Jackson County Court. After serving several terms, Truman was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1934, and in 1940 gained national attention for his chairmanship of the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, which was eventually nicknamed "The Truman Committee." Truman continued his political rise in 1944, when he was elected Vice-President as Franklin D. Roosevelt's running mate. After only 82 days as Vice President, Truman was thrust into the Presidency when Roosevelt died unexpectedly. His inheritance was a world at war. Germany had surrendered, but Japan refused to give up the war. Truman, in a desperate move to avoid having to invade the Japanese mainland, ordered the deployment of two atomic bombs. They were dropped on August 6 and August 9, 1945. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945. As President, Truman waged an undeclared war on the Soviet Union, drafting the "Truman Doctrine," which proclaimed the United States' willingness to provide aid to countries resisting communism. The Marshall Plan sought to strengthen the European economy in the hopes that this program, too, would prevent the spread of Soviet influence. Elected President for a full term in 1948, he also brought United States troops into the Korean War (1950-1953). In addition to his cold war activities, Truman's administration expanded the New Deal and promoted Civil Rights initiatives.

Leonard Lyons (1906-1976) was born in New York City as Leonard Sucher into a large family of Jewish immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He graduated from the City College of New York and was in the first class of graduates from St. John's University School of Law. He gained admission to the bar in New York in 1929 and practiced law for five years. He also began writing a weekly column for the Jewish Daily Forward. In 1934, he married Sylvia R. Schoenberger, and they had four sons. He later became a Broadway columnist for the New York Post, and an editor gave him the alternative last name of Lyons for professional use. He wrote six columns per week for his "The Lyons Den," a name devised by Walter Winchell. The column began in 1934 and became a New York institution that was syndicated nationally. He wrote his last column in May 1974 on the fortieth anniversary of his first.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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