Alan March
Beatrice Ashton Vandegrift was born in 1902 in Philadelphia. She was known as Betty to her friends and family. Throughout her life Betty displayed her facility with language, spoken and written. While attending Red Bank High School in New Jersey she performed in a school play, argued politics on the school's debate team, was elected as her senior class secretary, and became an editor for the school's first newspaper.
Beginning in 1922, Betty's poems were published in the Bayonne (New Jersey) Times, as contributions to a regular column. Within a year, Betty was being paid for her poems and short stories. Most of the 100+ pieces she sold appeared in the pulp magazine, "Argosy All-Story." Some of her short-short stories were syndicated and appeared in newspapers across the USA. Betty's writing displayed her wit, a Jazz Age woman's perspective on beauty, relations between women and men, and her philosophies of life.
This page reveals the genesis of Betty's professional writing career. Her first published writings appeared in the column titled, "Getting an Earfull with Ken." Written and edited by Nick "Ken" Kenny, "Getting an Earfull," included poems, jokes, stories, and commentary from unpaid contributors, many of whom used noms de plume. More than forty of Betty's poems appeared in the "Earfull" from 1922 to 1929 under the pen name, Augusta Wynde.
Bayonne Times, April 22, 1922
Augusta Wynde is introduced to the readers of the column "Getting an Earfull with Ken."
Bayonne Times, May 9, 1922
Columnist Nick Kenny may have shown romantic interest in Miss Wynde, inspiring this brief poem.
Bayonne Times, April 26, 1923
Augusta Wynde's true identity is revealed is Beatrice Ashton Vandegrift.
Bayonne Times, August 7, 1925
Columnist Nick "Ken" Kenny tells how he met Miss Wynde, the writer Beatrice "Betty" Vandegrift (appearing in two parts on this site).
His affection for Betty is apparent.
When "To His Mother" appeared in the August 1, 1925, issue of Argosy All-Story, Betty was engaged to marry
Kenneth F. March, then in his fourth year at the US Military Academy at West Point.
His mother was Edith Frease March, of Canton, Ohio. The "Earful" reprinted the poem in full.
Bayonne Times, July 1, 1927
Columnist Kenny described himself and Betty as a "romantic pair," as they co-wrote the poem "He, She."
Bayonne Times, August 9, 1927.
Columnist Kenny's last reference to Betty as he reprints her autobiographical poem about becoming a mother. The poem refers to her first child, her son, Harry V. "Pat" March, who was born in March of 1927.
"To a New Soul" originally appeared in the August 6, 1927 issue of Argosy All-Story.
When Betty Vandegrift married Ken March June 19, 1926, she became the daughter-in-law of
Dr. Harry A. March. Click on his name to read about his amazing life.