Edward J. "Eddie" Doherty (October 30, 1890 – May 4, 1975) was an American newspaper reporter, author and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-nominated screenwriter. He is the co-founder of the

Madonna House Apostolate The Madonna House Apostolate is a Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Christians, Christian community of Laity, lay men, women, and priests dedicated to loving and serving Jesus, Jesus Christ in all aspects of everyday life. It was founded in 1947 by C ...

, and later ordained a priest in the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

Life and career

Eddie Doherty was born in Chicago in 1890 to Police Lieutenant Edward Doherty and Ellen Rodgers. He was the eldest of ten children in the Irish Catholic family. At the age of 13 he entered a

Servite The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...

monastery in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. After two years he left the seminary, returned to Chicago, and went to work at the ''City Press''.Hollingsworth, Gerelyn, "On this day: Eddie Doherty", ''National Catholic Reporter'', May 4, 2011
/ref> Starting as a newspaper copy boy, Doherty worked at various other Chicago newspapers, including the ''

Examiner Examiner or The Examiner may refer to: Occupations * Bank examiner, a kind of auditor * Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church * Examinership, a concept in Irish law * Medical examiner * Patent examiner * Tr ...

'', the ''Record-Herald'', the ''Tribune'', the ''Herald'', and the ''American''. It was at the American that he began writing columns. He married his childhood sweetheart, Marie Ryan, on December 15, 1914. His wife died in the

1918 flu epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

, leaving him with a baby son. In his sorrow, Doherty left the Church. The following summer he married his second wife, Mildred Frisby, on July 16, 1919. Doherty had a second son, Jack Jim. Back at the ''Tribune'', he helped establish the Joseph Medill School of Journalism. Eddie Doherty and his wife and two children moved west, and started working for the ''Chicago Tribunes

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

bureau. He "made his reputation initially covering such scandals as the

Wallace Reid William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver. Early life Reid was born in St. Louis, M ...

case and the

Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked w ...

trial". The News' trucks and billboards proclaimed him "The Star Reporter of America"; The ''Mirror'' "billed him as America's Highest Paid Reporter". In 1939, Mildred died in a freak accident (from a fall) while out for a walk alone.Doherty, Eddie. ''Gall and Honey: The Story of a Newspaperman'' Madonna House Publications
The ISBN even at the publisher (978-0-921440-13-8) is bad, causing a checksum error. This time, however, Doherty found peace for his grieving in returning to the Catholic Church. In 1940, Doherty met Baroness Catherine de Hueck at her

Friendship House Friendship House was a missionary movement founded in the early 1930s by Catholic social justice activist Catherine de Hueck Doherty, one of the leading proponents of interracial justice in the period prior to the mid-20th-century civil rights mo ...

mission while doing a story on

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. Their friendship turned to romance, and they wed on June 25, 1943. In 1944, Doherty's screenplay for the World War II film ''

The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-clas ...

'' was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Original Story Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

. Meanwhile, the staff at Friendship House did not take well to Catherine's marriage to Doherty, and complained that Catherine no longer lived in celibacy as they were required to do. This and other differences eventually led to Eddie and Catherine moving to

Combermere, Ontario Combermere is a village along the Madawaska River in south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is part of Township of Madawaska Valley. It is named after Sir Stapleton Cotton, Viscount Combermere (1773-1865). Combermere is best known as home to the Ma ...

, Canada and starting a new apostolate called Madonna House in 1947. Here they founded their own newspaper, ''Restoration'', which has remained in continuous circulation. In 1969, Doherty obtained permission to transfer from the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

to the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

(which allows married men to become priests), and on August 15, 1969, Doherty was ordained a Catholic priest at the age of seventy-eight by Archbishop

Joseph Raya Joseph Raya ( ar, يوسف رايا) (15 August 1916 – 10 June 2005) was a Lebanese-born Melkite Catholic archbishop, theologian, civil rights advocate. He served as metropolitan of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee from 1968 until 1974 an ...

. In 1975, after a period of ill-health and surgery, Doherty slipped into a coma. He died the next day, on May 4, 1975. A simple wooden cross marks his grave, reading "All my words for the Word."

References

* Bazzett, Mary. ''The Life of Eddie Doherty.'' Combermere: Madonna House Publications, 1998.

External links

Madonna House Apostolate biography of Eddie DohertyBooks by Eddie Doherty
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Eddie 1890 births 1975 deaths American male biographers American Melkite Greek Catholics 20th-century American novelists American male screenwriters American theologians Christian writers Founders of Catholic religious communities American investigative journalists American people of Irish descent Writers from Chicago American newspaper reporters and correspondents 20th-century American biographers American male novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois Eastern Catholic priests 20th-century American screenwriters

Life and career

See also

References

External links