He taught for several years in New York City and at Boston College, before entering publishing as the literary editor of America magazine in 1923, of which he became the editor-in-chief in 1936.
While in this role, he was also active in founding and editing several academic journals, including Thought, and establishing various Catholic literary societies and book clubs.
During World War II, he was chaplain to a Catholic organization that previewed movies for the National Legion of Decency.
He held the office for three years and then was briefly an archivist at Georgetown University before becoming a priest and historian of St. Aloysius Church.
[2] He lived in Philadelphia until the age of seventeen, when he entered the Society of Jesus on August 15, 1906, proceeding to the Jesuit novitiate of St. Andrew-on-Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York.
[3] In that role, he held two "literary plebiscites" to draw public attention to Catholic authors and books.
[10] Talbot contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica, including generally reviewing it to reduce anti-Catholic bias,[13] and the 1936 edition contained two articles written by him.
[16] During World War II, Talbot became an auxiliary chaplain at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia.
Talbot was appointed the President of Loyola College in Maryland on July 26, 1947, by the Jesuit Superior General,[15] succeeding Edward B.
[1] His requiem mass was said by John Michael McNamara, the Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, at Holy Trinity on December 6,[15] and was buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery at Georgetown.