Archives: Franklin Roosevelt

The president and the detective novel – a continuing love story

May 31, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, journalism, writers, writing.

The President Is Missing, by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. Coming to your physical and digital bookstore in June. Watch for it. Pre-order from Amazon if you like. This won’t be the first time that a president has ventured into the mystery/detective/thriller genre, as Clay Fehrman points out in an interesting and enlightening article in • Read More »

Tags: . Bill Clinton, Clay Fehrman, detective fiction, detective novel, Franklin Roosevelt, James Patterson, The President Is Missing, Woodrow Wilson

Handel, down and out; ‘Girl with the Pearl Earring’ up and away; more Shakespeare and Vietnam: newsletter March 9, 2018

March 12, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: journalism, newsletter.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (4,116), on Friday, March 9, 2018. Hi, You may think that I am obsessed with William Shakespeare, that I just can’t leave him alone. Actually, it’s the other way around. He won’t leave me alone. The last three newsletters have had items about The Bard, • Read More »

Tags: Charles Darwin, Daniel Ellsberg, dictionaries, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, George Frederick Handel, Girl With the Pearl Earring, Hallelujah Chorus, Hot Stove League, Johannes Vermeer, John Casson, Messiah, Pentagon Papers, radio, Rick Goldsmith, Robert McNamara, Seventh Inning Stretch, The Guardian, watercp;pr, William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s appearance, Eleanor’s mastery, and Cronkite’s broadcast – plus a new book giveaway: newsletter, March 2, 2018

March 5, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | 2 Comments | Filed in: journalism, newsletter, watercolor, writing.

One of the seminal events in America’s long involvement in Vietnam occurred 50 years ago this past week. CBS newscaster Walter Cronkite — often called “the most trusted man in America” — narrated a prime-time documentary that called into question the American government’s rosy predictions about the war’s progress. Cronkite did not come out against the war. Rather, he said:

Tags: Chandos portrait., Dec. 7 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt, First Family of Radio, Franklin Roosevelt, Hot Stove League, MacBeth, Mark Bowden, New York Times, portraits of Shakespeare, radio, Samuel Johnson, The Guardian, Vietnam, Walter Cronkite, watercolor, Wesbster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, William Shakespeare

Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt: Masters of radio

February 27, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | 1 Comment | Filed in: history, journalism.

By their ninth year in the White House, the Roosevelts had become masters of the medium of radio. Franklin had a soft but strong modulating voice. His was a natural. He sounded like your favorite uncle: serious, cheerful, informed and confident. Eleanor, as usual, had to work harder and longer. She did that and became an important voice for the American people.

Tags: 1941, December 7, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, radio

A name for this newsletter; more on Shakespeare; the lost eloquence of the sports page: newsletter, Feb. 23, 2018

February 26, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | 1 Comment | Filed in: newsletter.

Vince’s first novel is titled Paperboy, and it’s the story of a boy growing up in Memphis who has a stutter. Vince himself is a stutterer, and the story rings true on every page. The novel was a Newberry Honor Award winner, and the Washington Post said: “[Vawter’s] characterization of Little Man feels deeply authentic, with . . . his fierce desire to be ‘somebody instead of just a kid who couldn’t talk right.”

Tags: Betty Friedan, caricature, caricatures, Copyboy, Damon Runyon, Eleanor Roosevelt, Four Horsemen, Franklin Roosevelt, Grantland Rice, Jimmy Cannon, Maxine Wayman, Newberry Honor Award, Notre Dame, Paperboy, Point Spread, Ring Lardner, Shakespeare's effect on the language, sports journalism, sports page, sports writing, The Feminine Mystique, Thomas Paine, Vince Vawter, watercolor, William Shakespeare

A ‘day’ becomes a ‘date’; Poe’s rules for detective fiction; a little bit of Henry Fowler

December 11, 2017 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: journalism, newsletter, Private eye.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (4,140) on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. Hi, Last week’s question: Were there no Americans before 1776? An answer came in from newsletter reader and good friend Jane P: There were many Americans long before 1776, in the numerous Native American societies and groups across what became the • Read More »

Tags: 1941, Ambrose Bierce, Americans before 1776, and grammar, Casefile, date which will live in infamy, Dec. 7 1941, December 7, destruction of spelling, Detnovel.com, Edgar Allan Poe, fact is scarier than fiction, Franklin Roosevelt, Henry Fowler, infamy, Kill the Quarterback, Louisa May Alcott, Point Spread, Prolific Reader, punctuation, The Devil's Dictionary, The Raven, watercolor, William Marling

FDR, the editor: A date which will live in infamy

December 7, 2013 | By Jim Stovall | 1 Comment | Filed in: audio journalism, editing, history, Home, journalism.

The nation had just endured a bitter debate about whether or not it should go to war. The Japanese ended the debate on Dec. 7, 1941, but the attack on Pearl Harbor had not cleared away the bitterness. Franklin Roosevelt had to weigh his words carefully.

Tags: America First, Charles Lindbergh, conscription, date which will live in infamy, Dec. 7 1941, draft, Franklin Roosevelt, Gold Star Mothers, Grace Tully, Japanese invasion of America, Pearl Harbor, war in Eruope, Winston Churchill, World War II