Edward Robb Ellis (1) (1911–1998)

I am so glad that this book fell into my hands!

Edward Ellis is a rare bird, a one of a kind, an old school journalist with a heart and soul of gold. A man of integrity in a profession that is full of temptations.
Ellis began his diary in 1927 at the age of sixteen and kept it til 1995. It became a chronicle of American history as told through the eyes of an individual life. He lived through a great Depression, the World Wars, and Vietnam, the race riots and McCarthyism. His experiences and show more how history has shaped him (and being a journalist) makes this invaluable as American literature should be. I especially found a quote by Huey Long to be of interest in our present-day "Fascism will come to America in the guise of anti-fascism." (This being said in the 1930s.)

And he was a curious man who was really a great thinker, a philosopher even. His diary should be part of American literature of the 20th Century. He embodies the man that Emerson envisioned that we as Americans must be "Whosever would call himself a Man {or a Woman} must be a non-conformist." Ellis was this man who was a non-conformist, and a man who stood up against racism when those around him were not and who saw through McCarthyism when those around him supported it. He was a man who foresaw the race wars as well and who was for feminism at a time when women were being seen as dependent on men. He listened to his conscience as a journalist and did not merely go after a story for the sake of it--he respected the privacy of those who were suffering (with all of the tragedies that he encountered in his early days). He also went on to interview celebrities and he was a respectful interviewer and one who was always curious and inquisitive and this is what made him such an insightful writer. He became an author of history books and I would love to find all of the books he has written. show less

4730. A Nation in Torment The Great American Depression 1929-1939, by Edward Robb Ellis (read 20 Jul 2010) This history of the Depression is by a diarist newsman rather than by a historian. But much of it is absorbing reading. I thought his chapters on Insull, the 1929 Crash, the Bonus Army, Hoover, Technocracy, March 1933, the NRA, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Dr. Townsend are all well done and good reading. The biggest failure of the book is that there are no footnotes and so one cannot show more tell what he used for sources often. His attitude toward Hoover and FDR and Harry Hopkins corresponded with mine--always a factor adding to enjoyment of a book. Not a profound study but a good book to read. show less

2980 A Diary of the Century: Tales from America's Greatest Diarist, by Edward Robb Ellis (read 18 May 1997) Ellis was born 22 Feb 1911 in Kewanee, Illinois, and in 1927 he began keeping a diary and he continued keeping it till this book was published in 1995. There is much I don't like about the man revealed in this book--made up of excerpts from his diary (less than 1% of the total)--he is an agnostic, an alcoholic, a womanizer at times, and totally amoral sexually, a pot-smoker, and he show more writes at times like a second-rate journalist (which he was, till 1962). The diary as published leaves out prominent events, and puts in some asinine stuff. But, tho when I was half way thru I'd have quit reading if I were a quitter, by the time I was done I was glad I kept reading and I am quite interested in much he had to say. He was a great reader and is avidly interested in books, and his diary--the Guinness Book of Records in 1981 listed his diary as the world's biggest--has made an exceptional book. show less

Excellent read. His career in journalism was exciting and fascinating.