PHILIP
S. VALD (1890-1917)
He was born in New York where his
father was a beadle in a small prayer house.
He studied in a religious elementary school and for a short time in a
public school. In his youth he lost his
mother and became a vagabond and a frequenter at the “Jewish Music Hall” where
from time to time he appeared on stage with his own lyrics. He served in the American navy, deserted, and
then lived in Boston and St. Louis, doing an assortment of jobs, making do to
get by, and unable to overcome his poor situation. He began writing farces, in Yiddish and
English, a number of which were staged by him alone. In 1910 he debuted in print in Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of
labor) in New York with a story which excelled in its profound feeling and purity
of language. He also contributed to Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter) in New
York. For a time he was an internal writer
for the weekly Der forshteyer (The
representative) in St. Louis, in which he placed articles, feature pieces, and
stories. In 1916 he became ill with
tuberculosis, spent some time at the sanatorium in Denver, and then later
returned to St. Louis and died there.
His stories and features, which he sent to Zalmen Reyzen in Vilna, may
be found in the YIVO archives in New York.
Source:
R. A. (Ayzland) and N. Pomerants, in Der
inzl (New York) 5 (1925), pp. 40-41, 61-62.
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