"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story" (J. Frank Dobie?)

Tue Jan 9 15:52:22 UTC 2007

The quote would seem to predate Dobie. From Google Books:

  1887 Frederic Jesup Stimson _Guerndale: An Old Story_ 212: "Don't let a little matter of family trees stand in the way of a good story ! " laughed Lord John. " Certainly not," said Tom.

  1936 John Stephen Strange _The Bell in the Fog_ 57: Clad in sober black, she flitted from house to house, advancing theories and peddling gossip. Never one to let the truth stand in the way of a good story....

  Many of the Google cites describe this as a "[city] editor's advice."  Not all these descriptions appear to be ironic.

  JL

  Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
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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