During this month in 1942, Richard Tregaskis, a war correspondent for the International News Service, finished a manuscript that became one of the best-selling war books of all time, "Guadalcanal Diary.” rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/09/rich...

On this day in 1960, John F. Kennedy earned a narrow victory over Richard Nixon for the presidency. Hoosier John Bartlow Martin worked for JFK in a position he pioneered with Adlai Stevenson in the 1956 California primary--editorial advance. rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/07/camp...

"No journalist can indulge in rage at others or in self-hatred without losing the balance needed to ply his trade. But there are some deaths reporters cannot forget." Malcolm W. Browne www.zocalopublicsquare.org/journalist-v...

"A good literary agent is a nurse, a mother, a lawyer, a pleasant liar, a baby-sitter, an ear, a magician." Jim Bishop Shoutout to @pstnyc.bsky.social

War correspondent conundrum: To get a better story, you need to get close to the action. The closer you got, the dangerous it got. Richard Tregaskis found out the dangers of getting too close on a hillside in Italy. rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-wo...

“I suggest you store everything up until May then drop the bomb." rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2011/05/vast...

This month in 1943, reporter Robert Sherrod was on a transport ship taking U.S. Marines to an operation in the Pacific. What they experienced stunned the home front and turned into, Sherrod said, the “only battle which I ever thought we were going to lose.” rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2017/11/shee...

"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect." Eleanor Roosevelt, who died on this day in 1962

“I think I’ll come through it after all." indianahistory.org/blog/the-las...

"It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners." Albert Camus, born on this day in 1913

"If we sneer at the hyperbole and mawkish sentiment that permeate most forms of communication, it is because journalists, more than many other people, spend their lives boiling in the caustic bleach of reality." Malcolm W. Browne www.biographersinconversation.com/s03e16-ray-e...

“. . . I have determined to stand and fight.” indianahistory.org/blog/to-stan...

“I love writing. I’m just nuts on writing. Just give me an inkpot and a paper and a pen, and away I go.” Janet Flanner, who died on this day in 1978 rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-le...

“This is no life and death affair. I am very happy here in Indianapolis and will continue to be if I’m not elected. Home is a pretty good place.” On this day in 1888, Hoosier Benjamin Harrison is elected as the nation's 23rd president. rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/06/hes-...

I'll be there. Ernie's a Hoosier hero. www.suncommercial.com/brazil_times...

“I love the infantry because they are the underdogs. They are the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys. They have no comforts, and they even learn to live without the necessities. And in the end they are the guys that wars can’t be won without.” rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2017/04/erni...

“No political party can long pursue advantage at the expense of public honor or by rude and indecent methods without protest and fatal disaffection in its own body." Benjamin Harrison

“Take nothing for granted. Find the truth. Get it if you can.” Homer Bigart’s advice to Neil Sheehan while reporting from the Vietnam War

"The only cause for which a correspondent must fight is to tell the truth and the whole truth." My conversation about my bio of war correspondent Malcolm Browne. Published by the @unmpress.bsky.social. www.biographersinconversation.com/s03e16-ray-e...

"I think the writer ought to help the reader as much as he can without damaging what he wants to say; and I don't think it ever hurts the writer to sort of stand back now and then and look at his stuff as if he were reading it instead of writing it." James Jones

"You have to really work at it to write. I guess there has to be talent first; but even with talent you still have to work at it, to write." James Jones, author of "From Here to Eternity," born on this day in 1921

We need more journalists like Malcolm Browne. Thanks to @gabriellakd.bsky.social for a great conversation about my bio from @unmpress.bsky.social.

"No journalist can indulge in rage at others or in self-hatred without losing the balance needed to ply his trade. But there are some deaths reporters cannot forget." www.biographersinconversation.com/s03e16-ray-e...

"One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say." Will Durant, born on this day in 1885

“I would rather be branded as belonging to the 'unworthy' poor than to be insulted by being classed with the 'worthy' poor. The 'worthy' poor! Think of that! It is society’s inadvertent confession of its own crime.” Eugene V. Debs debsfoundation.org/index.php/la...

“To stir the masses, to appeal to their higher, better selves, to set them thinking for themselves, and to hold ever before them the ideal of mutual kindness and good will, based upon mutual interests, is to render real service to the cause of humanity.” Eugene V. Debs

"Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality, but by the higher duty I owe to myself." Eugene Debs

“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.” Eugene V. Debs

On this day in 1968, Republican Richard Nixon (43.4%) eked out a victory over Democratic challenger Hubert Humphrey (42.7%) and independent George Wallace (13.5%) to capture the presidency. John Bartlow Martin was there for the HHH campaign. rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-...

“I may not be able to say all I think; but I am not going to say anything I do not think.” Eugene V. Debs rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-...

"I would rather a thousand times be a free soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets." Eugene V. Debs, born on this day in 1855

"I am not retiring. Writers don't retire. Writers never stop writing." Andy Rooney, who died on this day in 2011

"Do the best you can, and don't take life too serious." Will Rogers, born on this day in 1879

"Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy." Walter Cronkite, born on this day in 1916

Had a great time talking to @gabriellakd.bsky.social about my Malcolm Browne biography from the @unmpress.bsky.social.

"Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working." Henri Matisse, who died on this day in 1954

"I own no book that has not fought the good fight, taken on all comers, and earned the right to remain. If a book is there, it is there for a reason.” Joe Queenan, born on this day in 1950

"Stick with the optimists. It's going to be tough enough even if they're right." James Reston, born on this day in 1909 archives.library.illinois.edu/james-reston...

“All my jokes are Indianapolis. All my attitudes are Indianapolis. My adenoids are Indianapolis. If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis, I would be out of business. What people like about me is Indianapolis.” indianahistory.org/blog/kurt-vo...

“We need you. You write it and tell me what to say and I’ll say it.” rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/all-...

"I wanted so much to write that I couldn't write a word." Walker Evans

"I would make Reason my guide, but she should sometimes sit Patiently by the way-side, while I traced The mazes of the pleasant wilderness Around me." William Cullen Bryant, born on this day in 1794

"Then I despair. . . . I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it always." Andre Malraux, born on this day in 1901

"Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long." Walker Evans, born on this day in 1903

Grumman F6F Hellcat appreciation post in honor of Hoosier ace Alex Vraciu. Designed to take on and defeat the Zero, the Hellcat turned the tide for the Americans in the war against the Japanese in the Pacific.

Giveaway time! Free copy of my Alex Vraciu youth biography to the first person to name the type of aircraft he flew in the Pacific during World War II.

"I'd rather be in combat. That's really what it did to me. That's the honest truth. That was our job. That is what we were trained to do. . . . Nobody told you it was going to be an easy job." Alex Vraciu

"The act of writing is either something the writer dreads or actually likes, and I actually like it. Even re-writing's fun. You're getting somewhere, whether it seems to move or not." James Thurber, who died on this day in 1961

Happy birthday to an Indiana hero from World War II, U.S. Navy ace Alex Vraciu, born on this day in 1918 in the Indiana Harbor section of East Chicago, Indiana. rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-...

On this day in 1899 North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states. Always thought those two states should get new names. How about Almost Canada and South Canada? Any suggestions?