William Allen White (1868–1944)

2337 The Autobiography of William Allen White (read 3 Nov 1990) (Pulitzer Biography prize for 1947) The author was born Feb 10, 1868, at Emporia, Kans., and died in 1944. This book is over 600 pages and I read it in 3 days and I found it positively absorbing. It tells lots and lots about his early life, his time in college, his time as a reporter, his marriage, his acquisition of the Emporia Gazette, his catapult to fame with his anti-Bryan editorial "What's the Matter With Kansas?", his show more political efforts, his Bull Moose days, his time at the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919, his thoughts about the presidents from Harrison to Harding, and the death of his daughter Mary in 1921. Then it ends with Harding's death. His son, William L. White, tells of the years from 1921 to 1944 in too few pages. I really was expecting to hear him on all those years. He is a little naive, but one couldn't help but like him. He pokes fun at himself, to show how stuck up he was. But all in all this has been a tremendous read, even if I should have read it 40 years ago. It has been a most worthwhile experience. show less

I confess, I've only read the first 150 pages or so of this book. The first hundred pages are a fabulous description of growing up in late 19th century small town Kansas that is spell-binding and breathtaking. After that it bogged down and I lost interest. Maybe I'll have to try again

328. A Puritan in Babylon The Story of Calvin Coolidge, by William Allen White (read 5 May 1947) While reading this book a comment I made in my diary reads thusly: "Coolidge was a stupid ass. The book is very interesting in its details on politics of the time. I like the book."

Anyone growing up in his years, and later has heard of the great newspaper man from the small town who spoke wise, down to earth with pithy sentences. This book was published after his death and has a finish by his son, who was also a journalist. This book also won the Pulitzer. It is a great account of the first half of the 20th century in America.