What Nobel Prize winner for Literature rejected dinner at the White House by JFK? Stating as his reason "Why, that's a hundred miles away. That's a long way to go just to eat."

During 1962, the last year of Faulkner's life, he was invited to a Nobel Prize winner's dinner at the White House by JFK. The aged Faulkner could not make the journey from his southern home feeling he was too old to travel but did have a witty response when asked about it.Faulkner’s last appearance in the Times’s news pages before his death was a very funny one-paragraph notice on May 19 that was headlined “Reply by William Faulkner.” It read in part, William Faulkner was asked last night why he didn’t attend a recent White House dinner for Nobel Prize winners. “Why, that’s a hundred miles away,” he said. “That’s a long way to go just to eat.”

More Info: artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com

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19 Comments

Larry Jones

My paternal great grandmother exchanged letters with Faulkner for a time. He was indeed, an arrogant man. He was very selective in whom he "allowed" to correspondence with him, as most did not meet his standards.

Irene Townsend

Georgina Thomson, It says it was a dinner put on by JFK for Noble Prize Winner's, it didn't mention that he'd just won the NP, but he was invited to go to the dinner.

Etagi Nagaraja ,

Georgina Thomson, Hi question is Who rejected White House dinner ? Did Steinbeck also reject ? Confirm ??

Georgina Thomson

This is wrong.. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 and Faulkner in 1949..

Diane Lynn Kinsman

Got it right

Carroll Price

Good one!!

Jas Newman

Marcella Kosse, "Had to think who would be about a hundred miles away; guessed correctly."—Interesting. That's what made me miss it. Oxford, Ms, is about 900 miles from the WH.