Snowden T. Herrick (1919-1998)

Advertising Agent, Public Relations Officer, Civil Rights Activist, Writer
Born March 4, 1919, New York
Died February 18, 1998, New York, New York

Snowden Terhune "Snow" Herrick was born on March 4, 1919, in New York and attended Proctor Academy in Andover, New Hampshire, where he was treasurer of his freshman class and a member of a club called The Philosophers. Herrick graduated Yale University in 1940 and became an advertising agent, but he spent only two years on the job before enlisting in the U.S. Army. The date was August 13, 1941. The place was Camp Upton in Yaphank, Long Island. During World War II, he attained the rank of captain and served as a public information officer in the U.S. Army Air Force. For Herrick's postwar résumé, I will list only bullet points:

• Account Executive, Public Relations, New York, 1946-1951
• North American Information Officer, International Labour Organization (ILO), New York, 1951-1956
• Public Information Officer, ILO, Geneva, 1956-1963
• Chief, Public Information Branch, ILO, Geneva, 1963-1967
• Deputy Director, Population Task Forces, Center for Economy and Social Information, Office of Public Information, United Nations, 1968
• Chief, Development Support Information Service, United Nations Development Program, New York, 1968
• Deputy Director, United Nations Center for Economic and Social Information (CESI), 1969-1979
• Civil rights activist and co-founder of the Committee on Civil Rights in East Manhattan, Inc., 1950

Snowden Herrick was descended from a long line of writers and other prominent people. His father, Horace Terhune Herrick (1887-1948), was a scientist. His mother, Elinore Adelaide Morehouse Herrick (1895-1964), was a labor expert and negotiator. Horace Terhune Herrick's mother was a nineteenth century author of non-fiction, Christine Terhune Herrick (1859-1944). Her brother and Horace's uncle was Albert Payson Terhune (1872-1942), famed for his dog stories. Christine and Albert's parents were Reverend Edward Payson Terhune (1830-1907) and novelist Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune, aka Marion Harland (1830-1922). Rather than go into the biographies of these people, I'll just provide some more bullet points and links:

• For Horace Terhune Herrick (1887-1948) on Wikipedia, click here.
• For Elinore Moorehouse Herrick (1895-1964): "Elinore Herrick, Labor Aide, Dies," New York Times, Oct. 12, 1964, click here.
• For Christine Terhune Herrick (1859-1944) on Find A Grave, click here, and on Wikipedia, click here.
• For Albert Payson Terhune (1872-1942) on Wikipedia, click here.
• For Edward Payson Terhune (1830-1907) on Wikipedia, click here.
• For Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune (1830-1922) on Wikipedia, click here.
• For Helen (Casey) Isaacs Herrick, Herrick's wife, who also came from a prominent family: New York Times, Dec. 15, 2000, here.

Snowden Herrick wrote a little bit in the late 1940s. With John E. Pfeiffer, he authored "The Sun Tan Myth" for Collier's Weekly, July 12, 1947 (pp. 16-17). He had two stories in Weird Tales in 1948-1949. (See below.) His vocation, however, was with the United Nations, for which he worked from 1951 at least to 1979. Snowden T. Herrick died on February 18, 1998, in New York City. He was seventy-eight years old.

Snowden T. Herrick's Stories in Weird Tales

"The Hidden Talent of Artist Bates" (Sept. 1948)

"Open Season on the Bottoms" (Jan. 1949)

Further Reading

For Snowden Terhune Herrick's death notice in the New York Times online, Feb. 19, 1998, click here.

"The Hidden Talent of Artist Bates" was reprinted in 100 Wild Little Weird Tales, edited by Robert Weinberg, Stefan Dziemianowicz, and Martin H. Greenberg (1994).

Thanks to the anonymous commenter below for more information.
Text copyright 2016, 2023 Terence E. Hanley