Biographies of little known or under-appreciated innovators
By Joan Ruddiman Special Writer
Book Notes takes a look at several biographies that do what good bios should do: introduce the little known or under-appreciated innovators who shape their own time and continue to influence us today
In 1929, Barney Kilgore graduated from DePauw University and began his career at the Wall Street Journal. How this unpretentious Midwestern boy became the most significant newspaperman of his time is quite a story. Biographer Richard Tofel fully delivers in making his case: “Restless Genius: Barney Kilgore, the Wall Street Journal, and the Invention of Modern Journalism,” (St. Martin’s Press, 2009).
When I read a New Yorker piece that mentioned Mr. Tofel’s biography, I thought this would be book I’d enjoy. First, I’m an avid reader of newspapers and rank the Wall Street Journal the best in style and reporting. Seems I’m in good company as the paper that Kilgore envisioned spanning the nation — “from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon” — now spans the globe. It is consistently rated “the most trusted newspaper” and its style has become the model taught in journalism courses.
Then there is the local connection. Barney Kilgore bought The Princeton Packet in 1955 (at the time, its circulation was 1,000) in part because he didn’t want to see his hometown paper disappear. But even more so, he explained, “it’s hard for a newspaperman to resist a chance to get hold of a small town paper,” which he used, as Mr. Tofel writes, “as his hobby, his laboratory, his home away from home.”
Even when he was fighting terminal cancer, Kilgore extended the Packet’s reach by buying the first three local papers in what would become a 19-publication group with 190,000 aggregate circulation. Packet Publications is still run today by his son, James B. Kilgore of Princeton.
For many who are aware that newspapers are undergoing a major transformation, Mr. Tofel’s biography of the acknowledged “greatest business journalist” is also the fascinating story of the creation of a new form of journalism that has changed how news is delivered. For example, 20 years before USA Today struck gold by becoming a “national” newspaper, Barney Kilgore positioned the WSJ to meet the immediate reading needs of subscribers from coast to coast. Decades before the ubiquitous news bits appear on Internet home pages, Kilgore instituted the front-page “What’s News” column that provides an at-a-glance synopsis of the lead stories of the day.
Finally, for comparisons between the Great Depression and today’s recession, how Kilgore cut his teeth with financial writing in the FDR era provides an interesting juxtaposition to our current economic affairs. The correspondence between Barney Kilgore and his father is fascinating to read in hindsight as they discuss Roosevelt’s programs.
Mr. Tofel, a former Wall Street Journal editor, had full access to the Kilgore family’s extensive letters and to the WSJ archives. His biography of Kilgore — whose “work was more famous than himself” — offers insights beyond just the business of news writing. The WSJ editorial eulogizing Kilgore wrote that “he had a touch of genius and was to the full measure a gentleman.” Kudos to Mr. Tofel for capturing the essence and the making of such a man.
Those who love their gardens owe a huge debt of gratitude to Luther Burbank for the blooms, colors, hardy stock and delicious fragrances and tastes that we prize. What we desire in our gardens is what Burbank envisioned 100 years ago — and he made the visions become reality.
Jane S. Smith in “The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants” (Penguin, 2009) writes a lively biography about man who transformed the business of farms and gardens.
Burbank was one of the extraordinary inventors and entrepreneurs — like Bell and Edison — who Americans hailed as heroes in the early 20th century. Ms. Smith, a cultural historian, provides the context to remind readers “of a time when most people regarded ‘new and improved’ as a phrase without irony.”
“In 1905 markets offered fewer choices … apples and tomatoes … didn’t taste very good or travel well.” People ate fruits and vegetables that could be stored in root cellars or what was pickled, canned or dried. Flowers were a fleeting joy, mostly gone by June, which is why the idea of Decoration Day to honor the Civil War dead was the last week of May — so there were flowers to decorate the graves.
Luther Burbank was born in 1849, when “plant reproduction was a far greater mystery than the breeding of animals.” His story “stretched across the continent and extended through much of our national history” — his father was born when Washington was president and his widow lived into the presidency of Jimmy Carter.
For those who are gardening enthusiasts, this book is framed around “Inventing,” “Understanding” and “Possessing” the garden. Details about Burbank’s experiments and the revolutionary results abound. However, readers of biographies will be equally entertained and enlightened as Ms. Smith tells of story of the man’s life and his times.
Cokie Roberts, respected political commentator, understands Washington politics. Moreover, having been a congressman’s kid, she appreciates the unique society that is shared by wives and children of Washington politicians.
“Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation” (William Morrow, 2008) picks up where her best-selling “Founding Mothers” left off. Again, Ms. Roberts’ looks at the history of the early Republic through the lens of women’s diaries and letters. We know that Abigail Adams was an indefatigable letter writer — and full of opinions. But her peripatetic daughter-in-law Louisa, who accompanied John Quincy to far-flung postings, was as prolific and pointed in her letters.
Though we know Martha Jefferson Randolph assisted her father in the White House and that Dolley Madison saved portraits from British attack, Ms. Roberts opens up an entire other side to these stories. Martha’s feminine sensibilities were needed to save Jefferson from social missteps that threatened international relations. From the archives of letters sent to Mrs. Madison at the White House, it is apparent that Dolley was the force to be reckoned with. As Ms. Roberts notes, if you wanted something done, go to the top — Dolley.
Beginning with “the Presidency of John and Abigail Adams,” she follows the administrations of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe through the voices of women who were as engrossed in politics and political intrigue as their men were.
What Ms. Roberts does so well is present the words of these women in the context of their lives. Every pregnancy was a potential death sentence and death stalked every child. Yes they had help — slaves or paid help and family members. But it fell to the wives to establish and maintain the home, even when that home was moved across the Colonies or across Europe. Their own words convey the complexities of their lives. Yet it is remarkable that these women would often first write of the politics of the day — who has a chance for election, who misplayed a political hand — and then comment on the latest fashions, share gossip or family news.
Readers are aware that we are seeing an unfiltered view of the early Republic. These women provide a candid picture of personalities and personal problems that impacted the political realm. Whereas Jefferson and Adams lived long enough to carefully edit their papers to shape their legacy, these women were writing to family and friends. Who would want to read their letters in 200 years? Fortunate for us all, their missives have survived. Ms. Roberts, with an historian’s attention to detail including source notes, writes with wit and insight that brings these remarkable women and their political times to life.
Joan Ruddiman, Ed.D. is the coordinator/facilitator of the gifted and talented PRISM program at the Thomas R. Grover Middle School in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District.