SUNDAY MARKED 36 years since the death of William Lindsay White. For more than 30 years, he was the editor and publisher of The Gazette, and he deserves a moment of remembrance.
His father was William Allen White, and that was the blessing and curse of his life. The blessing was that his father’s name and success opened the doors of the world to him. The curse was that, in Emporia, he could never escape being compared to his father and found wanting.
William Allen White prided himself on being a man of the people. William Lindsay White, educated at Harvard, affected an upper-class English drawl and relished the company of the intellectual and social elite of New York. He wore a monocle and his name appeared in lists of the best-dressed men in the nation.
When he returned to Emporia after his father’s death, people saw him as an odd duck, out of water. For many years, he and his wife, Kathrine, would spend at least half of each year out of Emporia — in their New York brownstone, at their Long Island cottage or on long tours of Europe or Asia.
As a writer, his strength was not in editorializing — the talent that made his father famous. W.L. White’s best-known editorial, “Prayer for Rain,” was written in the 1930s, and was such a successful imitation of his father’s style that it is still often attributed to William Allen White.
But as he matured as a writer and a reporter, the son developed his own style and his own interests. Working for Fortune magazine before the war, and as a correspondent in Europe during the war, he began to focus his considerable intellect on national and international affairs.
His forte was not editorials, but books, and his books gave him a reputation of his own in the world outside Emporia.
These are the books he wrote: “What People Said,” “Zero Hour,” “Journey for Margaret,” “They Were Expendable,” “Queens Die Proudly,” “Report on the Russians,” “Report on the Germans,” “Lost Boundaries,” “Land of Milk and Honey,” “Bernard Baruch,” “Back Down the Ridge,” “The Captives of Korea,” “The Little Toy Dog” and “Report on the Asians.” Three of those books were made into movies.
But from World War II to the waning days of Vietnam, he was, here in Emporia, first and foremost, the editor of The Gazette. To the staff, he was “Mr. White” to his face and “the boss” the rest of the time. He took that responsibility seriously.
He was never afraid to pick a fight and he always fought fairly, but he fought hard. His battle against urban renewal blocked the “modernization” of the downtown business district and led to the preservation of the old buildings in which the community now takes so much pride. He brought the first cable television system to Emporia.
During the Vietnam War, he kept Emporians fighting that war in the hearts and minds of the people back home. He organized the effort to bring Emporia soldiers home for Christmas.
In hundreds of ways over the years, he did the best he could for Emporia and The Gazette.
No, William Lindsay White was not his father. But the real pity was that so many people wanted him to be.
He was his own man, and Emporia benefited from his unique gifts.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor
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reddog (anonymous) says...
emporia outwitted w l white. he drew a circle that shut us out. what a heretic and a rebel. but love and emporia had the wit to win. in the end our community drew a circle and took him in.
July 27, 2009 at 10:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (anonymous) says...
in 1967 the united fund had not met its goal for several years, according to an article dated december 6, 2006. ken thomas the drive chairman asked for the support of w l white. he agreed and advanced the idea of publishing the names of all fair share givers and it worked in a big way and the campaign has beeb successful and met its goal aimost every year since.
July 28, 2009 at 12:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (anonymous) says...
w l white was in the hospital and the nurse told him that he had a call from the white house, he said, hi honey and on the phone was dick nixon, president of the united states.
July 28, 2009 at 1:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )