|
John Gunther (August 30, 1901 – May 29, 1970) was an American journalist and author whose success came primarily through a series of popular sociopolitical works known as the "Inside" books (1936–1972), including the best-selling ''Inside U.S.A.'' in 1947. He is best known today for the memoir ''Death Be Not Proud'' about the death of his teenage son, Johnny Gunther, from a brain tumor. ==Personal life== Gunther was born in the Lakeview district of Chicago, growing up on the North Side of the city. He was the first child of a family of German descent. His father was Eugene Guenther, a traveling salesman and his mother was Lizette Schoeninger Guenther. During World War I the family changed the spelling of its name from Guenther to Gunther in order to avoid having a German-sounding name. In 1922, he was awarded a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago, where he was literary editor of the student paper. He worked briefly in the city as a reporter for the ''Chicago Daily News'', but soon moved to Europe to be a correspondent with the ''Daily Newss London Bureau, where he covered Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East. Gunther met Frances Fineman in London in 1925 and the two were married in 1927. Through 1936 they worked together—Frances as a foreign correspondent for the London ''News Chronicle''—throughout Europe. Gunther wrote, "I was at one time or another in charge of ''Daily News'' offices in London, Berlin, Vienna, Moscow, Rome, and Paris, and I also visited Poland, Spain, the Balkans, and Scandinavia. I have worked in every European country except Portugal. I saw at first hand the whole extraordinary panorama of Europe from 1924 to 1936."〔(John Gunther: Abbreviated profile from World Authors 1900-1950 ). Accessed 4 July 2007.〕 In Vienna, Gunther worked alongside a group of English-speaking central European correspondents that included Marcel Fodor, Dorothy Thompson, Robert Best, and George Eric Rowe Gedye. Gunther later described those years as the bubbling, blazing days of American foreign correspondence in Europe. . . . Most of us traveled steadily, met constantly, exchanged information, caroused, took in each other's washing, and, even when most fiercely competitive, were devoted friends. . . . We were scavengers, buzzards, out to get the news, no matter whose wings got clipped.〔Quoted in "Man from Mars," Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Atlantic Monthly, April 1997. http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/97apr/mars.htm. Accessed 22 October 2012.〕 With the success of the ''Inside'' books starting in the late 1930s, Gunther resigned his position to devote his full-time to the books. During World War II he worked as a war correspondent in Europe.〔Encyclopedia Britannica, "John Gunther", http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/249545/John-Gunther, accessed 22 October 2012〕 The Gunthers had two children: Judy, who died in 1929 before the age of 1, and John, Jr. (Johnny), who was born in 1929 and died in 1947 of a brain tumor. The Gunthers divorced in 1944.〔 Gunther married Jane Perry Vandercook in 1948; the two adopted a son.〔(John J. Gunther, About the Author, Biography ) at Harper Collins Publishers, Accessed 22 October 2012.〕 Gunther died of liver cancer on May 29, 1970.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Gunther」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|