During the 1940s and 1950s, one name, John Bartlow Martin, dominated the pages of the "big slicks," the Saturday Evening Post, LIFE, Harper’s, Look, and Collier’s. A former reporter for the Indianapolis Times, Martin was one of a handful of freelance writers able to survive solely on this writing. Over a career that spanned nearly fifty years, his peers lauded him as "the best living reporter," the "ablest crime reporter in America," and "one of America’s premier seekers of fact." His deep and abiding concern for the working class, perhaps a result of his upbringing, set him apart from other reporters. Martin was a key speechwriter and adviser to the presidential campaigns of many prominent Democrats from 1950 into the 1970s, including those of Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and George McGovern. He served as U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic during the Kennedy administration and earned a small measure of fame when FCC Chairman Newton Minow introduced his description of television as "a vast wasteland" into the nation’s vocabulary.

John Bartlow Martin: A Voice for the Underdog

Biographies & Memoirs

Boomhower, Ray E.

Historical

Indiana University Press

As an Official Army Photographer, "Mac" Fleming’s assignment was to take motion pictures of significant wartime events for the US Army. In the pouch intended to carry his first-aid kit on his belt, he instead carried a small personal camera, which he used to take pictures of the people and places that interested him, capturing in his field notes details of the life he observed. From these records, Fleming has assembled this absorbing private chronicle of war and peace. Assigned to the European Theater in February 1945, he filmed the action from the battle for the Remagen Bridge across the Rhine, to the fighting in the Hartz Mountains, on to the linkup with the Russian forces at the Elbe River. After the armistice, Fleming helped document how the Allied Expeditionary Force established a military government in Germany to cope with masses of POWs, establish control of the country, deal with the atrocities committed by the German army, and help thousands of newly released slave laborers return home to Poland, France, and Russia. He also recorded how the army provided rest, recreation, and rehabilitation to the remaining US soldiers and sent them home by truck, train, and ship. Awaiting shipment home, Fleming explored postwar German town and country life and toured some famous castles and historic spots. The foreword by historian James H. Madison describes the important role of photography in war and the special contribution of Fleming’s photographic diary.

From War to Peace in 1945 Germany: A GI's Experience

Arts & Photography

SANDWEISS, ERIC

Fleming, Malcolm L.

Photography & Video

On April 4, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., arrived in Indiana to campaign for the Indiana Democratic presidential primary. As Kennedy boarded his flight from an appearance in Muncie to Indianapolis, he learned that civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot outside his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. While on the plane, Kennedy heard the news that King had died. Despite warnings from Indianapolis police that they could not guarantee Kennedy's safety, and brushing off concerns from his own staff, Kennedy decided to proceed with plans to address an outdoor rally to be held in the heart of the city's African American community. On that cold and windy evening, Kennedy broke the news of King's death in an impassioned, extemporaneous speech on the need for compassion in the face of violence. It has proven to be one of the great speeches in American political history. This compelling book reveals what brought the politician to Indiana that day and explores the characters and events of the 1968 Indiana Democratic presidential primary in which the underdog Kennedy had a decisive victory.

Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary

History

Americas

Victory and defeat, love and loss are the prevalent realities of Letters from the Greatest Generation, a remarkable and frank collection of World War II letters penned by American men and women serving overseas. Here, the hopes and dreams of the greatest generation fill each page, and their voices ring loud and clear. "It’s all part of the game but it’s bloody and rough," wrote one soldier to his wife. "Wearing two stripes now and as proud as an old cat with five kittens," marked another. Yet, as many countries rejoiced on V-E Day, soldiers were "too tired and sad to celebrate." While visiting a German concentration camp, one man wrote, "I don’t like Army life but I’m glad we are here to stop these atrocities." True to the everyday thoughts of these fighters, this collection of letters can be as amusing as it is worrying. As one soldier noted, "I know lice don’t crawl so I figured they were fleas." A fitting tribute to all veterans, this book is one every American should own and read.

Letters from the Greatest Generation: Writing Home in WWII

Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod

In the fall of 1943, armed with only his notebooks and pencils, Time and Life correspondent Robert L. Sherrod leapt from the safety of a landing craft and waded through neck-deep water and a hail of bullets to reach the shores of the Tarawa Atoll with the US Marine Corps. Living shoulder to shoulder with the marines, Sherrod chronicled combat and the marines’ day-to-day struggles as they leapfrogged across the Central Pacific, battling the Japanese on Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. While the marines courageously and doggedly confronted an enemy that at times seemed invincible, those left behind on the American home front desperately scanned Sherrod’s columns for news of their loved ones. Following his death in 1994, the Washington Post heralded Sherrod’s reporting as "some of the most vivid accounts of men at war ever produced by an American journalist." Now, for the first time, author Ray E. Boomhower tells the story of the journalist in Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod, an intimate account of the war efforts on the Pacific front.

Sears, David

Madison, James H.

Johnson, Owen V.

Leaders & Notable People

In the fall of 1943, armed with only his notebooks and pencils, Time and Life correspondent Robert L. Sherrod leapt from the safety of a landing craft and waded through neck-deep water and a hail of bullets to reach the shores of the Tarawa Atoll with the US Marine Corps. Living shoulder to shoulder with the marines, Sherrod chronicled combat and the marines’ day-to-day struggles as they leapfrogged across the Central Pacific, battling the Japanese on Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. While the marines courageously and doggedly confronted an enemy that at times seemed invincible, those left behind on the American home front desperately scanned Sherrod’s columns for news of their loved ones. Following his death in 1994, the Washington Post heralded Sherrod’s reporting as "some of the most vivid accounts of men at war ever produced by an American journalist." Now, for the first time, author Ray E. Boomhower tells the story of the journalist in Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod, an intimate account of the war efforts on the Pacific front.

On April 4, 1968, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., arrived in Indiana to campaign for the Indiana Democratic presidential primary. As Kennedy prepared to fly from an appearance in Muncie to Indianapolis, he learned that civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had been shot outside his hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Before his plane landed in Indianapolis, Kennedy heard the news that King had died. Despite warnings from Indianapolis police that they could not guarantee his safety, and brushing off concerns from his own staff, Kennedy decided to proceed with plans to address an outdoor rally to be held in the heart of the city's African American community. On that cold and windy evening, Kennedy broke the news of King's death in an impassioned, extemporaneous speech on the need for compassion in the face of violence. It has proven to be one of the great speeches in American political history.
Marking the 40th anniversary of Kennedy's Indianapolis speech, this book explains what brought the politician to Indiana that day, and explores the characters and events of the 1968 Indiana Democratic presidential primary in which Kennedy, who was an underdog, had a decisive victory.

Product Description 
In the late summer of 1942, more than ten thousand members of the First Marine Division held a tenuous toehold on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal. As American marines battled Japanese forces for control of the island, they were joined by war correspondent Richard Tregaskis. Tregaskis was one of only two civilian reporters to land and stay with the marines, and in his notebook he captured the daily and nightly terrors faced by American forces in one of World War II's most legendary battles--and it served as the premise for his bestselling book, Guadalcanal Diary.One of the most distinguished combat reporters to cover World War II, Tregaskis later reported on Cold War conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. In 1964 the Overseas Press Club recognized his first-person reporting under hazardous circumstances by awarding him its George Polk Award for his book Vietnam Diary. Boomhower's riveting book is the first to tell Tregaskis's gripping life story, concentrating on his intrepid reporting experiences during World War II and his fascination with war and its effect on the men who fought it. 
 Review 
"In author Ray Boomhower's talented hands, the gripping story of one of World War II's finest journalists leaps off the page in an action-packed tale of a life on the front lines of history."--James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of 
Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor\n"A fascinating biography of the groundbreaking World War II correspondent Richard Tregaskis. . . . Boomhower fills in all the missing psychological and historical details with immediacy, authenticity, and humanity. . . . An engrossing picture of one of the twentieth century's most important combat reporters, [this book] serves as a necessary companion to Tregaskis's own front-line dispatches."--Joe Jackson, author of 
Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary\n"A unique analysis of the life, writings, and experience of war correspondent Richard Tregaskis. . . . Through the words and experiences of Tregaskis in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, the author provides the reader with a new perspective on why combat journalists risk their lives to cover wars and tell the stories of the people who fight in them."--James R. Hedtke, author of 
The Freckleton, England, Air Disaster: The B-24 Crash that Killed 38 Preschoolers and 23 Adults, August 23, 1944\n"Ray Boomhower digs deep into his wealth of sources and resources to gather details for an intimate portrait of what war is like for the troops who fight it. He then deftly weaves all that research into a fine, engaging read with a writing style that is sure to put the reader in the center of the battles. As much as you think you know what war is like, you will still find a deeper understanding of it by reading this book."--Jim Willis, author of 
100 Media Moments That Changed America\n"Alongside Ernie Pyle, Richard Tregaskis was perhaps the most outstanding American war correspondent of World War II. Tregaskis remains best known today for his landmark 
Guadalcanal Diary, but that book covered only one small chapter of his reporting from the front lines. Ray Boomhower's excellent new biography finally does justice to Tregaskis in this deeply researched, thoughtful portrait of the man and his times."--Richard B. Frank, author of 
Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle 
 About the Author 
Ray E. Boomhower is a senior editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press. He is also the author of more than a dozen books, including 
Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod; 
John Bartlow Martin: A Voice for the Underdog; and 
Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary.

Richard Tregaskis: Reporting under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam

High Road Books

The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World

From his key role in adopting the Australian ballot system in Indiana to his failed attempt at enacting a fresh state constitution, Jacob Piatt Dunn, Jr did more than anyone to reduce fraud and ensure honest elections in Indiana. This book documents Dunn's merging of his careers in both politics and the study of history.

Jacob Piatt Dunn, Jr.: A Life in History and Politics, 1855-1924

Arts & Literature

Indiana Historical Society

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Boomhower, Ray E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Boomhower, Ray E.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Boomhower, Ray E.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

John Bartlow Martin: A Voice for the Underdog

From War to Peace in 1945 Germany: A GI's Experience

Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary

Letters from the Greatest Generation: Writing Home in WWII

Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod

Dispatches from the Pacific: The World War II Reporting of Robert L. Sherrod

Robert F. Kennedy and the 1968 Indiana Primary

Richard Tregaskis: Reporting under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam

The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World

Jacob Piatt Dunn, Jr.: A Life in History and Politics, 1855-1924