Literature

Herman Melville's Literary Pipes

February 4, 2022 by Chuck Stanion

25 Comments

Moby-Dick; (1851), the most famous tale of whaling and the high seas ever written, was a commercial disaster. Its author, Herman Melville, made about $1,200 from the 3,200 total copies sold in his lifetime. It was a critical and popular failure, and readers didn't know what to make of its complex themes and erratic point of view. Like Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Emily ... Read More

J.R.R. Tolkien: Builder of Pipe-Centric Worlds

August 27, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

50 Comments

The influence of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on modern literature, culture, and even pipe smoking, is immeasurable. He supercharged the fantasy genre and made it more accessible to millions. Enormously popular games like Dungeons and Dragons are loosely based on his literary inventiveness. Because of Tolkien, cultural understanding of classically imaginary creatures like elves and ... Read More

J.B. Priestley: Literary Giant, Enthusiastic Pipe Smoker

August 13, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

17 Comments

A prolific writer, dramatist, poet, novelist, critic, political theorist, and pipe smoker, John Boynton Priestley is among the most highly regarded names in English literature. He wrote 26 novels, 39 plays, and multiple volumes of criticism and essays for a total of almost 200 works. He reinvented himself as a writer ... Read More

C.S. Lewis: Inventor of Worlds, Smoker of Pipes

June 18, 2021 by Chuck Stanion

30 Comments

Brilliant, imaginative, creative, scholarly, and a pipe smoker who loved Capstan and Three Nuns, C.S. Lewis has made an indelible contribution to literature, Christian apologetics, and world culture. He is the author of more than 30 books that continue to enthrall readers almost 60 years after his death, including the highly influential Mere Christianity, exploring the logical ... Read More

Jean-Paul Sartre: Philosopher, Author, Pipe Smoker

November 27, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

28 Comments

Through his writing, teaching, and lectures, Jean-Paul Sartre made existentialism part of popular culture. "Existence precedes essence," he wrote in his book, Existentialism and Humanism (1946). Sartre's argument reversed traditional philosophical thinking whose default position most often inferred that essence is more fundamental and unalterable than its existence. ... Read More

Arthur Miller: Playwright and Pipe Smoker

November 6, 2020 by Jeffery Sitts

13 Comments

One of the most acclaimed playwrights of all time, Arthur Miller wrote several popular and iconic plays that continue to be performed today, decades after they were originally written. Throughout the mid-20th century, Miller was a major public figure thanks to his high-profile marriage to actress Marilyn Monroe and his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. ... Read More

The Pipes of Tom Sawyer

October 15, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

13 Comments

Tom Sawyer is an icon of American literature, among the most loved characters to emerge from an American pen. We all know the basic story, and many of us read Tom Sawyer when we were young. It helped shape the way we thought about childhood, and I bet many are just like me: Tom Sawyer influenced the way I lived. ... Read More

William Faulkner: Pipe Smoker

September 11, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

16 Comments

William Faulkner achieved more in the context of Southern literature than any other writer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize, two Pulitzers, two National Book Awards, and he was further immortalized by the USPS with a two-cent stamp with his image, including his ever-present pipe. ... Read More

Raymond Chandler: Author, Screenwriter, Pipe Smoker

August 28, 2020 by Jeffery Sitts

17 Comments

Raymond Chandler was a complex and talented man, an author, and a Hollywood screenwriter who many consider to be one of the founders of the hard-boiled school of crime fiction, a genre that centers around detectives battling organized crime and a legal system that was often just as corrupt. ... Read More

Peterson Book Wins IPPY Award

June 26, 2020 by Andrew Wike

15 Comments

Writing and publishing books is hard, especially for those not affiliated with large publishers. Writing a book about pipes is really hard, and there's only a very small audience to appreciate the achievement; however, when such a book is as well researched, well written, and well laid out as The Peterson Pipe: The Story of Kapp & Peterson, it's going to get attention in the larger world of publishing despite its esoteric subject matter. ... Read More