Doubleday

Doubleday is identified in the account of Thomas Savage’s early writing career as the publisher of The Pass, his first novel, in 1944. Its role in the available evidence is specific: it brought the novel into publication under the name Thomas Savage, linking the book’s release to a period when its author was formally reclaiming that name.

Publication of The Pass

Savage began with a short story about the railroad’s importance to an isolated Montana ranching community, cut off from the outside by a high pass and severe winters. After The Atlantic editor Ed Weeks returned the story and suggested it become a novel, Savage drafted The Pass while at Colby College. Doubleday published the novel in 1944.

The Name on the Book

The novel appeared under Thomas Savage, the name Savage was born with. Around the time of his first child’s birth, he sent to Salt Lake City for his birth certificate and began changing his employment and education records from Tom Brenner to Savage. The account presents the publication name alongside this laborious process of restoring his birth name; it does not specify how Doubleday participated in the changes.

Scope of the Evidence

The account establishes Doubleday’s publication of The Pass but supplies no further information about the publisher’s organization, editorial process, or other dealings with Savage. Its documented significance here is the 1944 appearance of his first novel under his birth name.