Temple Hornaday Fielding (1913–1983) was a noted American
travel writer
The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs.
One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern period ...
. During World War II, he was a
psyop operative in Europe under the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
Morale Operations Branch (MO) unit, 2677th Regiment OSS (Provisional). The "2677" was the subject of an inside joke at MO Rome, since the Pantone color code for the ink used in the forgery of the 6 pfennig Hitler head stamp was 2677. MO Rome was headed by Eugene P. Warner, a civilian, formerly of the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
.
Fielding was the grandson of author and naturalist
William Temple Hornaday
William Temple Hornaday, Sc.D. (December 1, 1854 – March 6, 1937) was an American zoologist, conservationist, taxidermist, and author. He served as the first director of the New York Zoological Park, known today as the Bronx Zoo, and h ...
.
MO Rome used an existing Italian printing house where many of the leaflets, posters, and forged postage stamps were printed. Fielding allegedly helped with the printing as part of the Planning Grou
Fielding was discharged from the army June 6, 1945.
In 1945, his OSS boss, Gene Warner, became public relations director for TWA International Division. Warner is said to have needed some institutional mentions for the airlines, and asked Temple to scare up some national magazine assignments in which the placements could be made. Fielding was able to place the airline ads in the
Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
,
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
, and TWA.
Fielding's first travel guide, ''Fielding's Travel Guide to Europe'', was published in 1948. In 1951 he and his wife moved from New York to Denmark, but soon resettled in Formentor, Mallorca, Spain, where he established his company headquarters for Fielding Publications, Inc.
With World War II over, "Biedermeier Europe" being a thing of the past, it was ripe for exploration. Fielding viewed it as his mission to make Europe available to America.
Robert Young Pelton
Robert Young Pelton (born July 25, 1955) is a Canadian-American author, journalist, and documentary film director. Pelton's work usually consists of conflict reporting and interviews with military and political figures in war zones.
Pelton has ...
acquired the Fielding travel guide some time during the 1990s.
A Guide to the Field Artillery Replacement Training Center - Fort Bragg, North Carolina
According to an autobiographical manuscript by Nancy Fielding, Temple's wife, he wrote the above-referenced title for the United States Army. The 5th Edition pictured in this article was published March 1944. An estimated 2.5 million copies were printed according to Fielding's autobiography.
Publications
* ''Fielding's Travel Guide to Europe: 1954-55''
* ''Fielding's travel guide to Europe 1967''
* ''Fielding's Far East''
* ''Fielding's Travel Guide to Europe 1969''
* ''Super Economy Europe''
* ''A Guide to the Field Artillery Replacement Training Center - Fort Bragg, North Carolina''
Bibliography
* "Modern Living: A Guide to Temple Fielding", ''Time'', June 6, 196
pay
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, Temple
American travel writers
American male non-fiction writers
1913 births
1983 deaths
Date of birth missing
Date of death missing