National Columnists Day – April 18th
A historic picture of the original grave site of Ernie Pyle, famous World War II columnist and news journalist, surfaced recently on Facebook. It shows a long trench-like grave site where Pyle was originally laid to rest among other fallen soldiers. An unidentified soldier pays final respects in a place as simple and honest as Pyle’s writing and as bleak as…
About 30 journalism students from Indiana University visited the Ernie Pyle State Historical Site recently. The site is closed and half of the letters, and many of the uniforms, World War II era gear and other artifacts have been removed. The materials are warehoused in Indianapolis, where state museum officials say they will be utilized in…
By Mike Leonard More than 65 years after his death, Indiana University alumnus Ernie Pyle is still winning awards. Pyle was designated as a Fellow of the Society by the Society of Professional Journalists at the group’s annual convention in Los Vegas Tuesday night. “Being named a Fellow of the Society is the highest honor…
Celebrate the the birthday anniversary of a legendary writer on August 3rd. Garrison Keillor, on his Writers Almanac, today honors the 110th anniversary of the birth of columnists’ icon Ernie Pyle. Article is about halfway down and recounts part of the life and writing of Pyle. Or you can click on LISTEN and hear that Midwestern baritone read this…
UPDATE – MAY 19th – Decision on Pyle’s Birthplace postponed The state commission voted to table a controversial decision about what to do with the Ernie Pyle State Historic Site. Meanwhile, the doors to the site in Dana, Indiana, remain closed. On the table is a decision that will allow the state to sell…
Ernie Pyle’s ‘Story of G.I. Joe’” is a classic 1944 film designated to be preserved by the Library of Congress. The Story of G.I. Joe” is a war movie showing a realistic and uncommon portrait of war and the soldiers fighting it, especially unusual at the time when it was made. Ernie Pyle stayed out of briefing…
By Sheila Moss Web Editor Tom Curley, president and CEO of the Associated Press, recently said that journalists need reasonable access to battlefields to provide the public a realistic view of what is happening in Afghanistan and other war zones. Curley’s speech kicked off a conference on war and journalism at the University of Kentucky.…
You, the columnist By Dave Lieber davelieber.org A little disgusted is how I feel when I read these words from Time magazine book reviewer Lev Grossman about how writers are going to have to write differently for people who read their work on cell phones or who can’t focus too long on one subject: …
What is the story behind National Columnists Day? By Dave Lieber Secretary, NSNC Education Foundation Columnist, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Website: Yankee Cowboy The office memo changed the course of my writing life. Back in the 1980s, I was a staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Gene Roberts, the great editor, sent us a note…
ERNIE PYLE was a beloved journalist and military correspondent during WWII. Pyle studied journalism at Indiana University but left school to become a reporter for a small newspaper prior to moving to Washington. After working as a reporter and an aviation writer, he eventually became managing editor for the Washington Daily News. In 1932 he…
National Columnists Day – April 18th By Bill Tammeus Former NSNC President Back in the early 1990s, when I was president of this nervy and nervous band of scribes, I got a note from a new member who was full of enthusiasm for the NSNC but was, alas, directionless. “I’d like to…
Quotes from NSNC Columnists It was 50 years ago today that Ernie Pyle should have ducked. While riding in a jeep with some soldiers on some flyspeck of a Pacific island, he was picked off by a machine gun…. Finally, I found it, sandwiched between two headstones on which were simply etched “Unknown.” There was…
As seen in Fort Worth-Star Telegram – April 18, 1998 Hero teaches lesson, but not about writing By Dave Lieber, Columnist, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Columnists across America this weekend are writing about National Columnists Day, a fun quasi holiday in which they honor Ernie Pyle, the great columnist who was killed 53 years ago yesterday…
