Witness to a Century; Encounters with the Noted, the Notorious, and the Three SOBs

25 cm. xxi, [1] , 490 pages. Illustrations. Index. Henry George Seldes (November 16, 1890 - July 2, 1995) was an American investigative journalist, foreign correspondent, editor, author, and media critic best known for the publication of the newsletter In Fact from 1940 to 1950. He was an investigative reporter of the kind known in early 20th century as a muckraker, using his journalism to fight injustice and justify reform. But by his time the public mood had changed, and reader demand for muckraking was much weaker. According to historian Helen Fordham, Seldes's career demonstrates how those who crusaded too vehemently seemed to violate new standards of impartiality and objectivity. His work was often criticized as too radical. Influenced by Lincoln Steffens and Walter Lippmann, Seldes's career began when he was hired at the Pittsburgh Leader at the age of 19. In 1914, he was appointed night editor of the Pittsburgh Post. In 1940, Seldes co-founded a weekly newsletter, In Fact, subtitled "an Antidote to Falsehoods in the Daily Press." In it, he attacked malfeasance, often using documents from the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. He exposed the hazards of cigarettes and attacked the press for suppressing them. He brought attention to the National Association of Manufacturers' use of advertising dollars to produce favorable news stories favorable and suppress unfavorable ones. He received an award for professional excellence from the Association for Education in Journalism in 1980 and a George Polk Award for his life's work in 1981. Derived from a Kirkus review: Short accounts of meetings with Trotsky, lsadora Duncan, Mussolini, Lenin, H. G. Wells and other luminaries form the bulk of this memoir by the grand old man of muckracking journalism. Beginning with his meeting, at age 15, the Russian writer Maxim Gorki, Seldes regales here with a whirlwind tour of the famous and infamous he has covered, first as a cub reporter in Pittsburgh, then as ace international correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, finally as founder of the iconoclastic newsletter In fact. Seldes conveys with energy and wit the packed-bags, uprooted life of a roving reporter. A few short descriptions do incandescently shine--Charlie Chaplin making a pass at Pola Negri and receiving a slap for his trouble; Patton taking Seldes on a rollicking ride in his "Ten of Diamonds" jeep; Sinclair Lewis teaching him a delightful pun-puzzle. Most satisfactory is Seldes' record of his persecution at the hands of Senator Joseph McCarthy, a torment to which he devotes significant space--as he does to his equally fascinating account of two meetings, spaced 20 years apart, with Tito. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. …