Songs for Parents | Page 7

Farrar volunteered in 1922 for the
organizing committee of an American chapter of PEN (originally Poets,
Essayists and Novelists) founded in England the year before by Sappho
(Amy Dawson Scott) to foster support of visiting foreign writers. PEN
grew quickly to become an international advocate for freedom of
expression and continues its activism to this day. (See
http://www.pen.org
)
After the Second World War, the American chapter of PEN foundered
for lack of direction. Farrar, co-principal of the newly formed
publishing house of Farrar, Straus and Company, now Farrar, Straus
and Giroux, stepped in to refocus its energies and recruit dozens of new
members. He served as president twice, once from 1951-1953 and
again from 1963-1965.
In his roles as both and editor and a publisher, Farrar had a lasting
impact on literature through the years. Farrar, Straus & Giroux has
published many Nobel Laureates (20 as of 1995) and dozens of
distinguished poets and authors. It is my privilege to reprint this etext
of some of his own work for posterity.
0. Stewart A. Levin
End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Songs for Parents, by John Farrar
from http://www.dertz.in/