William Lindsay White (June 17, 1900 – July 26, 1973) was an American journalist, foreign correspondent, and writer. He succeeded his father,
William Allen White
William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America.
At a 1937 ...
, as editor and publisher of the ''
Emporia Gazette
The ''Emporia Gazette'' is a daily newspaper in Emporia, Kansas.
History
William Allen White bought the newspaper for $3,000 ($ in dollars) in 1895. Through his editorship, over the next five decades, he became an iconic figure in American journ ...
'' in 1944. Among White's most noteworthy books are ''They Were Expendable'' (1942) and ''Lost Boundaries'' (1948), which was adapted into the film ''
Lost Boundaries
''Lost Boundaries'' is a 1949 American film starring Beatrice Pearson, Mel Ferrer (in his first leading role), and Susan Douglas Rubeš. Directed by Alfred L. Werker, it is based on William Lindsay White's story of the same title, a nonfiction ...
'' in 1949.
Early life
William Lindsay White was the only son of William Allen and Sallie White, born in
Emporia, Kansas
Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 ...
on June 17, 1900. He had a younger sister, Mary, who was killed in a horse-riding accident at the age of 16 in May 1921.
White grew up in Emporia, and worked as a teenager as a reporter for the ''Gazette''.
He attended the nearby University of Kansas, and then transferred to and graduated from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1924. He participated in the theatrical activities of the
Hasty Pudding Club
The Hasty Pudding Club, often referred to simply as the Pudding, is a social club at Harvard University, and one of three sub-organizations that comprise the Hasty Pudding - Institute of 1770. The club's motto, ''Concordia Discors'' (discordant h ...
while at Harvard, co-authoring the book and lyrics of the organization's 1924 show.
The elder White groomed his only surviving child for work in journalism, hoping for his son to succeed him as editor of the ''Emporia Gazette''. He took his 18-year-old son to France to witness the signing of the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
ending
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. William Allen White eventually persuaded his son to return to Emporia. Shortly before his father's death in 1944,
[ William Lindsay White took over the ''Emporia Gazette''.
White attended Harvard and there picked up an English accent. Upon his return to Emporia, he wore a monocle and was one of the best-dressed men in the nation
]
Career
He served as associate publisher of the ''Gazette'' in the early 1930s.[ White worked for the ''Washington Post'' in 1935 and for ''Fortune'' magazine in 1937. In 1939 he became a war correspondent for the ]Columbia Broadcasting System
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
and a consortium of 40 newspapers.[ The National Headliners Club awarded him its prize for best European broadcast of the year for his editorial "The Last Christmas Tree" from the ]Mannerheim Line
The Mannerheim Line ( fi, Mannerheim-linja, sv, Mannerheimlinjen) was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. While this was never an officially designated name, during the Winter War it ...
in Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
in 1940. He reported from London in 1940 and 1941 for the North American Newspaper Association and ''Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
''. In 1942 he became roving editor for ''Reader's Digest''.
As editor and publisher of the ''Emporia Gazette'' beginning in 1944, White fought many battles with the city. When the old courthouse needed repairs, the city decided to build a new one instead. White led a campaign to repair the old courthouse and lost. He later angered the local chamber of commerce by opposing tax breaks for companies that relocated to Emporia. He opposed urban renewal schemes that benefited real estate interests and merchants in downtown Emporia rather than the poor in need of housing.
White was also a radio correspondent for CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
, sometimes filling in for Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe fo ...
. For most of his later career, William Lindsay White was Roving Editor for ''Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'' and published numerous articles in that magazine.
White was also actively involved in politics. He served in the Kansas House of Representatives
The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...
in 1931 and 1932.[ White also drummed up support for ]Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
's run for the Presidency in 1952 and supported his friend Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
's presidential campaign. When Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...
first ran for the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
, White threw a dinner party at the Broadview Hotel and invited most of the Eastern Kansas Republican leaders. The dinner was pivotal to the success of Dole's first campaign.
He wrote 14 books during the course of his career, beginning in 1938 with ''What People Said'' (1938), which examined the Kansas bond scandal. In 1944, the ''New York Times'' described three of his earliest titles as best-sellers: ''They Were Expendable'', ''Queens Die Proudly'', and ''Journey for Margaret''. All were based on his experience as a war correspondent.[ Three of his books were adapted into feature Hollywood films: '']They Were Expendable
''They Were Expendable'' is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford, starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne, and featuring Donna Reed. The film is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by William Lindsay White, relating the story ...
'', ''Journey for Margaret
''Journey for Margaret'' is a 1942 American drama film set in London in World War II. It stars Robert Young and Laraine Day as a couple who have to deal with the loss of their unborn child due to a bombing raid. It is an adaptation of the book ...
'', and ''Lost Boundaries
''Lost Boundaries'' is a 1949 American film starring Beatrice Pearson, Mel Ferrer (in his first leading role), and Susan Douglas Rubeš. Directed by Alfred L. Werker, it is based on William Lindsay White's story of the same title, a nonfiction ...
'', based on the true story of Dr. Albert C. Johnston and his African Americans family passing as white in New England. ''They Were Expendable'' was a Book of the Month Club
Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members c ...
selection, as well.[
He served for a time as an overseer of Harvard.][ He was elected to the board of the ]American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
in 1950. He became an officer of a group formed to aid Russian refugees in 1951, the American Committee for Freedom for the Peoples of the U.S.S.R.
Personal life
White's wife Kathrine was born in Cawker City, Kansas
Cawker City is a city in Mitchell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 457. The city is located along the north shore of Waconda Lake and Glen Elder State Park. It is one of several places cla ...
, and worked on the editorial staff at ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine before her marriage. The couple wed on April 29, 1931, in St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The couple maintained a residence in Emporia, and a brownstone in New York City in which they lived for half the year.
White died of cancer in 1973 in Newman Memorial County Hospital in Emporia. His widow and a daughter survived him. Just before his death, the Emporia city commission renamed the 1940 Civic Auditorium in his honor.
Legacy
After White's death, a memorial fund was established in his name to plant more trees in Emporia. By the turn of the century, more than 300 trees had been planted with money from this fund. There is also a bronze bust and a sample of his writing in White Memorial Park at Sixth Avenue and Merchant Street in Emporia.
Works
* ''What People Said'', 1938
* ''Zero Hour'', 1940
* ''Journey for Margaret'', 1941
* ''They Were Expendable'', 1942
* ''Queens Die Proudly'', 1943
* ''Report on the Russians'', 1945
* ''Report on the Germans'', 1947
* ''Lost Boundaries'', 1948
* ''Land of Milk and Honey'', 1949
* ''Bernard Baruch'', 1951
* ''Back Down the Ridge'', 1953
* ''The Captives of Korea'', 1957
* ''The Little Toy Dog'', 1962
* ''Report on the Asians'', 1969
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, William Lindsay
American newspaper editors
Editors of Kansas newspapers
Journalists from Kansas
Writers from Kansas
1900 births
1973 deaths
The Harvard Lampoon alumni
People from Emporia, Kansas
American male novelists
American male journalists
20th-century American novelists
Republican Party members of the Kansas House of Representatives
Deaths from cancer in Kansas
Harvard College alumni
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American journalists