Charles Merz was born in Erie County, Ohio on February
23, 1893, to Dr. Charles H. Merz and
Sakie (Prout) Merz. While at Sandusky
High School , Charles Merz
worked on the school’s yearbook, the Fram.
During the summers, he was a cub reporter for the Sandusky Register and the Star
Journal. He graduated from Sandusky
High School in 1911. The
younger Charles Merz is pictured below with the Debating Team at Sandusky High
School.
Charles Merz graduated from Yale in 1915 and moved to New York to work at Harper’s Weekly, eventually being named editor of the magazine. In 1916, he became the Washington
correspondent for the New Republic , with a brief hiatus during World War I, when he worked in military intelligence. He and Walter Lippmann compiled a survey on the press coverage of the Russian
Revolution, and were very critical of the coverage by the New York Times.
In 1931
Charles Merz went to work for the New
York Times, where he served as editor from 1938 to 1961.
During the McCarthy era, Merz was known for his opposition to Senator
Joseph McCarthy in his editorials. He also wrote several
books, including: The Great American Bandwagon, The Dry Decade, And Then Came Ford, and Centerville , U.S.A. It is believed that Centerville ,
U.S.A. was based primarily
on Merz’s upbringing in Sandusky ,
Ohio .
Charles Merz passed away on
August 31, 1977. He is still remembered for his long career in journalism and
his devotion to the principles of American democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment