Walter O'Meara (1897 - 1989) was an American writer born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Early life

O'Meara spent his childhood in

Cloquet, Minnesota Cloquet ( ) is a city in Carlton County, Minnesota, United States, at the junction of Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highway 33. Part of the city lies within the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation and serves as one of the reservation's three admi ...

, graduating from

Cloquet High School Cloquet High School (CHS) is a high school in Cloquet in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Operated by Cloquet Public Schools, it serves approximately 700 students; a typical graduating class has 160 to 200 members. It has existed for over 100 years ...

in 1914. O'Meara started his college education at the University of Minnesota before taking a leave of absence to serve in the US Army in World War I. Upon his return, he completed his studies in journalism at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, graduating

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

in 1920.

Career

O'Meara stayed on in Minnesota for several years, writing for the Duluth News Tribune. Following his time with the newspaper, he moved to Chicago to work for the advertising agency

J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...

. In 1932 he relocated to New York to work for the advertising agency

Benton & Bowles Benton & Bowles (B&B) was a New York-based advertising agency founded by William Benton and Chester Bowles in 1929. One of the oldest agencies in the United States, and frequently one of the 10 largest, it merged with D'Arcy-MacManus Masius in ...

, but in 1942 rejoined J. Walter Thompson, at their New York office. O'Meara went on to act as the Chief of Planning for the Office of Strategic Services, as well as the head of the information department of the

Office of Price Administration The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price contr ...

, during World War II. In 1950, following World War II, O'Meara decided to pursue a career in writing. Over the span of his career, he saw a number of magazine articles published, in addition to 16 books. Two of these books, Minnesota Gothic and Grand Portage, were best-sellers.

Personal life

O'Meara was married in 1922 to Esther Arnold, with whom he had four children:

Donn In Irish mythology, Donn ("the dark one", from cel-x-proto, Dhuosnos) is an ancestor of the Gaels and is believed to have been a god of the dead. Donn is said to dwell in Tech Duinn (the "house of Donn" or "house of the dark one"), where the ...

, Ellen, Deirdre, and Wolfe. They lived in several places including Washington Mews, NYC; Woodstock, NY; and Danbury, CT. He died in Massachusetts in 1989, at the age of 92.

Bibliography

O'Meara is the author of a number of publications:Library of Congress Online Catalog.
WALTER O'MEARA
Accessed June 28, 2007. *Trees Went Forth ''1947'' *Grand Portage ''1951'' *Tales of the Two Borders ''1952'' *Spanish Bride ''1954'' *Minnesota Gothic ''1956'' *Devil's Cross ''1957'' *First Northwest Passage (Illustrated by Lorence Bjorklund) ''1960'' *Savage Country (Illustrated by Philip B. Parsons) ''1960'' *Last Portage (illustrated by William Hofmann) ''1962'' *Guns at the Forks ''1965'' *Duke of War ''1966'' *Daughters of the Country; The Women of the Fur Traders and Mountain Men ''1968'' *Sioux are Coming (Illustrated by Lorence Bjorklund) ''1971'' *We Made It Through the Winter: A Memoir of Northern Minnesota Boyhood ''1974'' *Guns at the Forks ''1979''

References

Additional resources

* The
Walter O'Meara Papers
are available for research use at th
Minnesota Historical Society.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omeara, Walter 1897 births 1989 deaths Writers from Minnesota University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni