Fifty years later, rediscovering 'The Port of Missing Men'

When some men have spent nearly a half a century in one profession, they greet retirement as a welcome change and an opportunity to pursue latent interests.

Yet for Ralph Woodward '51, retirement from a nearly 50-year career in book publishing at DoubleDay and Little, Brown and Company led him through black and orange memories back to the world of publishing.

On the occasion of his class's 50th reunion, Woodward has engaged a limited publication of the first English translation of author Alain Prevost '51. The 600-copy run of 1967 French novel "The Port of Missing Men," represents a year-long labor of friendship for a former roommate.

"I have spent a pleasant and rewarding year in quiet conversation with my old friend, one of my roommates at Princeton," begins Woodward in the afterward of the newly-published novel.

The newly-translated novel, to be distributed to the entire Class of 1951 during reunions this year, is Woodward's first attempt at professional translation.

"When I retired, five or six years ago it occurred to me that I might read again some of his work," Woodward said. "About a year ago, I decided I would translate this last novel from French to English. I had a specific purpose for doing this. "I'm not by profession a translator, but still I found this exercise particularly interesting," he explained.

Prevost, the author of more than a dozen novels, is well known in France, though his reputation in America is not as substantial — his work has never before printed in English.

"Alain was a lively and entertaining person," Woodward said. "He was a bit of a rascal and some of that is reflected in his book."

Woodward met Prevost on campus during their freshman year in 1947. Enjoying English literature class, Woodward believes he probably met the young French student in one of the University lecture halls. "He was unlike anyone else I had ever met," Woodward said. "And I guess I was typically American to him."

That difference — and their desires to learn more about different cultures — fostered a friendship that lasted a lifetime.

Prevost was in-volved in "everything" on campus, Woodward said. Both a rugby player and jazz music enthusiast, Prevost had a wide circle of acquaintances. His attendance at Princeton was sponsored by Alan Styvesaut '28.

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"Among Princeton authors," Woodward said, "Alain is one of two or three of the most significant in a foreign language."

The book "Port of Missing Men" is set in Princeton and centers on a young french boy who is a candidate at the University in the late 1940s. Though the book is not an autobiography, it bears an uncanny similarity to Prevost's own experiences at the University.

In the novel, a young French man named Gregoire enters Princeton sponsored by his aunt who lives in town. Prevost leads the reader through Gregoire's experiences — many at the University — but others on Long Island and in the New Jersey countryside.

In one of the most intriguing twists in the story, Gregoire has an affair with his aunt — who is nearly 15 years his elder — after his uncle is killed in the Pacific.

The book represents Prevost's first creative writing about American life.

"This is the first time that I have written about the United States, even though I lived there for seven years," explained Prevost in a 1967 interview with a French newspaper.

"But I forbade myself to write a book like this. Until now, I've based my novels on documentary evidence, you see, to be sure to have a main theme I would keep to. And I made myself stick to my theme to the very end," he added.

Prevost was quick to highlight — as was Woodward — that the book is not autobiographical. But his themes of childhood and coming of age resonate throughout the novel, and blend well with Princeton's college setting.

"My permanent theme is childhood; I have never understood what it takes to be a grownup," continues Prevost. "This tale of youth is not at all like my own life. At fourteen I was an old man; when he lands in America the Gregoire of my book is not mature. But like me he is learning to live. In the end he wonders whether the life he had and left behind in the USA was happy, but he sees clearly that it had the colors of success."

Though the book is not based on Prevost's experiences at the University or with his classmates, it contains relevance to Princeton and especially to the Class of 1951. Woodward said he hopes the special printing of the book will both stir memories of a respected classmate and perpetuate a book not known to most Americans.

"Its a really interesting way to commemorate someone who was widely known and popular in our class," said Woodward. "He had a distinguished literary career that's largely unknown is this country. It's a novel that would be of interest today.

"It has stood the test of time pretty well," Woodward continued. "It's a nice thing to do and a fairly unique thing to do. Few classes have such talented authors to be republished for their 50th reunion."

Though it has been nearly 30 years since Prevost died, a piece of his life will be at his class's 50th reunion and his memory preserved in the pages of "The Post of Missing Men."