| | | The Irving Bacheller Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta The International English Honor Society Irving Bacheller     The honorary takes its name from a member of the St. Lawrence University class of 1882, the popular journalist and author of Eben Holden, the first "best seller" of the 20^thcentury.  The first known constitution for the Irving Bacheller Society dates back to 1959.  Eligibility: membership is determined by the following: students who have completed at least four English courses must have a grade point average of 3.5 in English; students who have completed at least six English courses must have a grade point average of 3.25 in English. All applicants must be in the top 35% of their class, but not lower than a 3.0. Seniors applying for membership with only four courses must have taken at least one course at the 300-400 level.  About Irving Bacheller     Addison Irving Bacheller was born in Pierrepont, NY, on September 26, 1859 and died in White Plains, NY, on February 24, 1950.  Bacheller describes Pierrepont as being  "a few miles from the St. Lawrence River and the edge of the Adirondack wilderness."   While at St. Lawrence University, he received his B.S. in 1882 and founded the Alpha  Omicron Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega.   This brought the formerly all-southern fraternity to the north and helped to break down sectional barriers.     After his graduation, he moved to New York City  to join the staff of the Brooklyn Daily Times.  In 1884, Bacheller founded the first newspaper syndicate in America, the Bacheller Syndicate, to supply special articles to large Sunday newspapers.  One of the main contributions of this syndicate was the discovery of Stephen Crane and the serializing of the Red Badge of Courage.  Similarly, Bacheller introduced Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to the American reading public through the syndicate.     Although Bacheller was appointed Sunday editor of The New York World under Joseph Pulitzer in 1898, he discontinued his journalist work in 1900, because he wanted to devote all of his time to his new found interest in writing fiction.  His first book, Master of Silence had been published in 1892, followed by Still House of O'Darrow in 1894.  However, it was not until he became a full time writer that his real success began with his best seller Eben Holden, published in 1900.     His fame as a novelist placed him in demand, and he joined the lecture circuit, with James Pond as his agent, reading selections from his novels, essays and short stories. He also served as a war correspondent during W.W.I in France.     Bacheller was always interested in education and young people.  He served on the boards of trustees of both St. Lawrence University and Rollins College in Florida.  He also established the Irving Bacheller Contest, an essay and oratorical contest for Florida high school students, and endowed a professorship of creative writing at Rollins College.  He received two honorary masters degrees from St. Lawrence and honorary doctorates from St. Lawrence, Middlebury College, and Rollins College.     It is also important to note that from the tower of Gunnison Chapel, the Bacheller Memorial Chimes ring daily over the St. Lawrence campus and recall to the present generation its donor, Irving Bacheller. Taken from A biographical note on Irving Bacheller.