OCR Text |
Show YTOMORROWl STOOKBrtlDGK . . . death Frank Parker Stockbridge, author au-thor of this column for many years, missed a deadline this week for the first time in his 50 years ' of reporting. He had probably started writing his column, die-j taling It to a nurse, when the hiiart attack from which he was suffering overtook him and he died suddenly. His column was an iinKrt-wnt iinKrt-wnt part of Ills life. It was a moans of scir-cxprCHslon for an Intensely active mind. It was an opxrtunity to pass on tlio vast store of Information about America and American ways that he had gathered (luring 70 busy years of living. liv-ing. To some people it is a mental strain to write. To Frank Stock-bridge Stock-bridge it would have been more of a strain to hold back the things he so fervently wanted to say. WRITING ..... memory Frank Stockbridge knew he was apt to die soon. His doctors had warned him that unless he gave up all his many activities his heart was apt to give way. But he had a passion for living actively and a passion for self-expression. It would have been easier for him to give up eating than to give up writing. The last time I saw him he was planning to write a book about his life. One title he had considered for the book was, "The Presidents I Have known," since he was an intimate in-timate of every man in the White House during this century, cen-tury, liut he said that his wife thought the book should be called, "No Moss The Biography Bi-ography of a Rolling Stone," because, during their entire lire together, he had always had so many Irons in the fire that they never were able to settle down in one place. The most remarkable thing about Mr. Stockbridge's keen mind was his memory. If he had written that book about his life, I doubt if he ever would have had to look at a reference. All the facts he'd ever have needed were catalogued in his mind. I remember when someone asked him recently who was secretary of the treasury under un-der Cleveland. He not only named him but for good measure spieled spiel-ed off the names of every other member of Cleveland's cabinet. CARIOER .... editorships Mr. Stockbridge was a small town boy who made good. He was born in Gardiner, Maine, in 1870. There he learned the printing trade and when he was 24 years old he became a reporter for The Buffalo (N. Y.) Express. Ever siuce then, probably not a day lias gone by that he hasn't written something for somebody. Among the jobs which he held during his career were: Kditor of The American Home Magazine (which he founded; found-ed; editor of Popular Mechanics Mech-anics Magazine; president and managing editor of The New York Evening Mail; editor ed-itor of The American Press magazine; and in an editorial capacity, he aiso worked on The New York Herald. The New York American and The N. Y. Globe. He contributed contribut-ed to many magazines and newspapers and is well-known among readers of The Saturday Sat-urday Evening Post. He wrote several books, the most recent ones being "So This Is Florida, ' written in 1938, and "Hedging Against Inflation," Infla-tion," written in 1939. Always active in politics, one of the most notable jobs he did was to launch the campaign which led to Woodrow Wilson's going to the White House. AMERICANISM . understanding Although Mr. Stockbridge has written on every conceivable subject, sub-ject, as followers of this column, know, his greatest interest has been in preserving the American way of life ... in defending our freedom, in trying to end class hatred and in protecting America against foreign "isms." Because of his close contact with the newspaper news-paper world, the principle of a free press has always been one of his passions. In 1931 he was made vice-president of a committee of leading newspaper men who organized or-ganized for the sole purpose of protecting the free press. His greatest personal quality qual-ity was his understanding of the other man's viewpoint. Always fond of discussion, I've heard him argue with people whose political viewpoints view-points were as far apart from Ids as men's thoughts can be, and argue in such a calm intelligent in-telligent way that he made a lasting impression on his opponent. op-ponent. I imagine that he was one of the very few men who ever had been able to get another man to change his mind about politics. LOSS philosophy During these times, with the world in a turmoil and America having to make such momentous decisions, it is a severe loss to all of us not to be able to call upon the wisdom and common sense of Frank' Stockbridge. We need Americans of his type to guide us. But if Frank Stockbridge could read this column, I imagine im-agine he'd smile at that idea. For it has always been his fiim belief that the strength of America is founded on the united desire of all of us for freedom ..and ..democracy that so long as a large group wants to preserve freedom above everything else, nothing noth-ing can ever take that freedom free-dom away from us. That's probably true, but the big job that men like Frank Stockbridge can do today, is to keep fanning our home fires to see to it that we keep them burning burn-ing brighter than ever. |