"Print the legend" Was Re: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story" (J. Frank Dobie?)

Tue Jan 9 15:38:47 UTC 2007

Reminds me of "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."  This is usually attributed to John Ford, as it appears in his movie _The Man who Shot Liberty Valance_ (1962).

   It would seem logical, however, in the absence of controverting evidence, to credit the saying to the screenwriters, James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck.

  The John Wayne character says something very similar to newspaper reporters at the end of _Fort Apache_ (1948). Unfortunately I don't have the exact words. Interestingly enough, the senior writer listed on that film was also WWI flier and novelist James Warner Bellah.

  JL

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: "Never let the facts get in the way of a good story" (J. Frank
Dobie?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did anyone coin "(Never/Don't) let the (facts/truth) get in the way of a =20
good story"? (Search for "way of a good story.")
...
It's been credited to Texas folklorist J. Frank Dobie (one quote in YBQ), =20
but I don't know if anyone in particular can take credit.
...
...
...
_http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/never_let_the_facts_get_in_=
th
e_way_of_a_good_story/_=20
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/never_let_the_facts_get_in_=
the_way_of_a_good_story/)=20
...
=20
=E2=80=9CNever let the facts get in the way of a good story=E2=80=9D
=20
Texans are known for their bragging. Common sayings are =E2=80=9CIt ain=E2=
=80=99t braggin=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D=20
(if you can do it, or if it=E2=80=99s true) and=20
_=E2=80=9Cno brag, just fact.=E2=80=9D_=20
(http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/no_brag_just_fact/) =20

=E2=80=9CNever let the facts get in the way of a good story=E2=80=9D (somet=
imes given with =E2=80=9C
truth=E2=80=9D replacing the word =E2=80=9Cfacts") is something that seems=20=
either from=20
Texas or Hollywood (or a bit of both). The phrase dates from at least 1940.=
=20

Folklorist J. Frank Dobie is sometimes credited with this phrase, but this=20
has not been verified with documentary evidence. Delbert Trew (another Texa=
s=20
folklorist) has claimed: =E2=80=9CI never let the truth stand in the way of=
a good=20
story=E2=80=9D=20

_The 1824 Flag of the Texas Revolution_=20
(http://www.texianlegacy.com/1824flag.html) =20
Texians and Hollywood seldom allow facts to get in the way of a good story=20
and sometimes these stories take on the guise of history. =20

_=E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s All Trew=E2=80=9D Texas columns by Delbert Trew_=20
(http://www.texasescapes.com/DelbertTrew/It's-All-Trew.htm) =20
=E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s All Trew=E2=80=9D by Delbert Trew =20
Appears in the Amarillo Globe News=20
Delbert Trew was born in Ochiltree County in the northern Panhandle of Texa=
s=20
in 1933. His wife Ruth was also born in the Panhandle on a farm near=20
Follett, Texas. This was during the darkest days of the Great Depression an=
d in the=20
heart of the Dustbowl. They are retired and live 65 miles east of Amarillo=20=
on=20
a ranch that=E2=80=99s been in the family for 54 years.=20
(...)=20
As a disclaimer he sometimes says, =E2=80=9CI never let the truth stand in=20=
the way=20
of a good story=E2=80=9D and other times he says, =E2=80=9CIf you=E2=80=99ve=
already heard this=20
story, don=E2=80=99t stop me, =E2=80=98cause I want to hear it again, mysel=
f.=E2=80=9D=20

_Handbook of Texas Online_=20
(http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/DD/fdo2.html) =20
DOBIE, JAMES FRANK (1888-1964). J. Frank Dobie, folklorist, was born on a=20
ranch in Live Oak County, Texas, on September 26, 1888, the eldest of six=20
children of Richard J. and Ella (Byler) Dobie. His ranching heritage became=
an=20
early influence on his character and personality. =20

_Wikipedia: J. Frank Dobie_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Frank_Dobie) =20
James Frank Dobie (September 26, 1888=E2=80=93September 18, 1964) was an Am=
erican=20
folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depic=
ting=20
the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the=20
open range. As a public figure, he was known in his lifetime for his outspo=
ken=20
liberal views against Texas state politics, and for his long personal war=20
against what he saw as bragging Texans, religious prejudice, restraints on =20
individual liberty, and the assault of the mechanized world on the human spi=
rit. =20
He was also instrumental in the saving of the Texas Longhorn breed of cattle=
=20
from extinction. =20

_Google Groups: alt.old.west_=20
(http://groups.google.com/group/alt.old-west/browse_thread/thread/a9350d6cc0=
491418/07233879f8a496c2?lnk=3Dst&q=3D"way+of+a+good+s
tory"+and+texas&rnum=3D2&hl=3Den#07233879f8a496c2) =20
From: laro=20
Date: Fri, Feb 21 2003 11:44 am=20

Gerald, I had a hard time believing that Bigfoot was a descendant of Willia=
m=20
Wallace...I went to the Handbook of Texas and sure enough, there it is.=20

Then I noted that J. Frank Dobie actually penned that article before he die=
d=20
and was reminded of a quote OFTEN attributed to Dobie, =E2=80=9CNever let t=
he truth=20
get in the way of a good story.=E2=80=9D=20

I=E2=80=99m still wondering. Do you have any personal sources of knowledge=
or were=20
you accepting the Handbook, as I always do (well, almost always. Dobie did=
=20
have a way with the truth!)=20

I like Dobie, don=E2=80=99t get me wrong. I=E2=80=99ve got all of his book=
s with about two=20
exceptions.=20
But he was a folklorist! =20

29 June 1940, Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, NE),pg. 5, col. 7: =20
...the women (and men) who won=E2=80=99t let truth stand in the way of a goo=
d story =20
and embroider a little on every bit of gossip they hear;...=20

15 December 1956, Winnipeg , pg. 32, col. 6:=20
His book, which he calls frankly a novel, is a stringing together of=20
vigorous and racy anecdotes, and if the facts get in the way of a good stor=
y, so=20
much the worse for the facts. =20

9 March 1964, Fresno (CA) Bee, pg. 28, col. 8:=20
Lawrence Lader=E2=80=99s writing in Sunday=E2=80=99s Parade Magazine on the=
bail system=20
followed with slavish devotion the slogan: =E2=80=9CNever let the facts sta=
nd in the way=20
of a good story.=E2=80=9D=20

13 December 1969, Northwest Arkansas Times (Fayetteville, AR), pg. 4:=20
Murray writes for the Los Angeles Times, and wears the literary mantle of=20
Artemus Ward, Josh Billings and Don Rickels. He=E2=80=99s a colorful writer,=
and he=20
rarely lets facts get in the way of a good story.=20

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