George P. Putnam - Later Years

Later Years

In 1938, Putnam set up a new publishing company in California, George Palmer Putnam Inc.

With America's entry into World War II in 1941, Putnam rejoined the active military, serving as an intelligence officer, enlisting as a captain and rising to the rank of major by 1942. In 1945, he and "Jeannie" divorced; she had initiated the action, citing incompatibility. Shortly after, he remarried again, to Margaret Havilland.

In late 1949, Putnam fell ill, suffering from kidney failure. He died in Trona, California in the first week of 1950, aged 62. He was cremated and his ashes were interred in the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.

George Putnam authored a number of books, including:

• Smiting the Rock
• Hot Oil
• In the Oregon Country
• Death Valley and Its Country
• Hickory Shirt
• Soaring Wings (1939 biography of Amelia Earhart)
• Wide Margins (1942 autobiography)