George Garrett Archive Course

 

Module Two. Seamen, Syndicalists and Scribes 

1913 - 26 

Workshop One. From Beachcomber to East 42^nd Street.

Garrett’s experience of America, and that of so many others who worked, on land or at sea, revealed the flip side of Fitzgerald’s ‘Jazz Age’. Not for them the endless parties and pointless conversations, but rather the daily struggle to work and keep on working. Although, in post-war New York, with mass immigration, boom-time economy and a flourishing of hope, people in all strata of society weren’t immune to a feeling of hope after much sacrifice. People were poor, but not by the standards of Europe, but they were rich with ideas. Garrett finds himself in the melting pot, jumping ship with the agreement of his wife, Grace, who waits for him to earn money to send back home. It’s a seeming contradiction – an economic boom, where America finds itself the dominant world economy, although it is yet to assume its dominant role, and bohemian nirvana, where radical ideas of all persuasions hang out together. There is a boom un the US home market, in consumer durables; radio, TV, etc., and the film industry is assuming its dominant role in world culture. Tony Wailey quotes  Jose Luis Borges, saying ‘if you want to talk about a place, imagine yourself in another’. It seems being in New York has this effect upon Garrett.

Coney Island, at the back end of New York on the Atlantic, first place devoted to weekend mass consumption, and the working classes and affluent middle classes soak it up. The testimonies of seamen bear witness to just how attractive New York was at this point.

Garrett has had five years of drama in his life as a stowaway at sea, becoming a stoker, as a prisoner of war and being torpedoed at sea. Eugenie Montale talks about how the first slice of our life is about gaining experience, and thereafter we spend our time trying to gain insight into, and make sense of those experiences that shape us.

America doing so well it doesn’t feel the need to look outside of itself, its finance sytem is now dominant, labour is in plentiful supply and its home markets soak up all it can produce. America passes Europe’s travails as if in a dream.

Compare America to Germany, when considering the five reasons that can lead to turmoil and later fascism: 1. Economic crisis 2. A growing disparity between town and country. 3. A moment of middle class panic 4. A disproportionate increase in the pace of modernisation 5. A charismatic leader. Germany has these in abundance. America lives under the banner of ‘normalcy’.

However, this is also an indication of the growing imbalance in the world economy. Debs predicts a coming crisis. The US does not need the rest of the world, and doesn’t care to act as a global stabiliser. In fact, to counter the growing radicalism in major cities, it moves to clamp down on radical aliens, and the Palmer raids, led by future CIA Director J Edgar Hoover, represent disquiet among the ruling elite.

Garrett, in New York begins to develop a world view full of ideas. He knows everything could come crashing down, and wants to create his own stories.

Garrett’s first play (we assume as it is not dated yet), Two-Tides, finds its genesis in New York. It begins his life long love of writing and theatre, and his struggle through the written word to find his own place in the world.

Legendary Labour leader James Larkin is also in New York, and is later jailed for his radical activities. Garrett may or may not have known Larkin, but what is beyond doubt is that in this period Garrett meets and joins The Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World - IWW), the trade union movement that has cultural activity and engagement at its core. Garrett, who has little time for politics that spends time on discussing the minutiae of text, loves to read but prefers action to bring about change, immediately identifies with the Wobblies, and becomes a radical on the streets of New York. For this he is caught up in the Palmer Raids, and is either deported or jumps a ship to escape before he is arrested. He arrives back in Liverpool as a writer, ready to lead the unemployed campaigns at home, but dreams returning to the US, which he will do in 1923, but this time as George Oswald James.