“I have never been bored an hour in
my life. I get up every morning wondering what new strange glamorous thing is
going to happen and it happens at fairly regular intervals.” – William
Allen White
Newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement,
White—who along with his wife Sallie are part of my cast of characters in the
book And The Wind Whispered – became
the iconic spokesman for middle America.
Almost from the day he took over the paper in 1895 until his death in
1944, he was writing as a champion of the “average” American, building his
newspaper, his own reputation, and his community in the process.
With his
warm sense of humor, articulate editorial pen, and commonsense approach to
life, White soon became known throughout the country and the writing world,
earning a Pulitzer Prize for himself and his newspaper in the process. His Gazette
editorials were widely reprinted; he wrote syndicated stories on politics; and did
biographies of Woodrow Wilson and Calvin Coolidge. "What's the Matter With
Kansas?" and "Mary White" — a beautiful tribute to his
16-year-old daughter on her accidental death in 1921— were his best-known
editorials, but many others helped shape middle American life and national
politics. “Present the facts fairly and honestly,” he said, “(and)
truth will take care of itself.”
William Allen White
So influential was White that every President
from Theodore to Franklin Roosevelt stopped in Emporia for his counsel, and
Franklin asked him to lead a national effort to generate support for the Allies
in 1940 while the U.S. was still officially “neutral.”
During his lifetime, he had 22 books
published and along with longtime friend Dorothy Canfield, he founded the Book
of the Month Club, a great boon for readers and writers alike. Today, both the University of Kansas School
of Journalism and the Emporia State University Library are named in his honor.
Visiting the Emporia Gazette in the heart of Emporia, KS
Photo by Susan Jorgensen
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