Jeannie Shiff was kind enough to send along to me pictures of an insightful and warm written tribute to George Macy, written by his friend Nunnally Johnson and read at Macy’s funeral on May 22, 1956 by another good friend, Harold Riegelman. The tribute was printed for the members of The Heritage Club in 1956. Below are pictures which allow you to read the entire tribute, along with a letter from Helen Macy to a Heritage subscriber, written by her on June 4, 1956, shortly after George Macy died. In the letter she bravely states her intent for the club to carry on.
So often with famous or influential people, we think of them through the blurry lens of publicity and rumors, as well as through our indirect interactions with them (in Macy’s case through the books we cherish from Limited Editions Club and Heritage Club, along with anecdotes one occasionally comes across of interactions he had with printers, artists, etc. ). The tribute and letter below allow us a rare glimpse into a more direct and personal view of Macy as felt by those close to him.










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Well, years later, another comment/tribute. I happened to be looking for something else on LibraryThing when I saw your note there. As it happens, this past Sunday I did a Zoom talk [sign of the times]to the Sound of the Baskervilles, the Seattle Sherlock Holmes group, on George Macy and his efforts on the LEC set, which won him investiture into the Baker Street Irregulars.
I had recently gotten hold of the Francis Meynell address on the dedication of the George Macy Collection at Columbia and saw there another example of helen’s gracious writing.
Thank you for posting this and all your efforts.
-laotzu225 on LibraryThing.
What a wonderful and heartfelt tribute by Nunnally Johnson. George Macy was indeed unique in bringing great classics and finely crafted books to a wide-ranging audience that had previously not been able to afford them and he succeeded admirably in his life-long mission to do so. Helen Macy’s letter in which she expresses her resolve to continue and maintain the high standards of the LEC after the recent death of her husband is quite remarkable, especially under the circumstances.
A large ‘Thank You’ to Ms. Jeanne Shiff for sending this along and making it available to all LEC devotees and lovers of finely crafted books.
From Robert: For those who may not be familiar with Nunnally Johnson, he was one of the most highly-respected screenwriters in Hollywood, whose work was especially noted for its literary quality; he adapted many best-selling novels for the screen–Tobacco Road, The Keys of the Kingdom, and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit– and was Oscar-nominated for his superb adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.