'Never bored and always looking forward'

 

“I have never been bored an hour inmy life. I get up every morning wondering what new strange glamorous thing isgoing to happen and it happens at fairly regular intervals.” –William Allen White

 

Born in Emporia, KS on this date in1868, White became America’s most renowned small town newspapereditor.   A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and bestsellingauthor, White became the spokesperson for Middle America and in the processmade Emporia a “must stop” for politicos and celebrities seeking his counsel.

When I was researching mynovel And The Wind Whispered, I was startled to find that Whiteand his wife Sallie traveled to the Black Hills to spend time in Hot Springs,the setting for my book.   It was therethat he first met Theodore Roosevelt – and thus their meeting and interactionsbecame an integral part of my tale’s narrative.   

 

After my book’s publication, eventhough it is a historical novel and not a history book, per se’, I was invitedto speak at Emporia State University and share my findings about the Whites’ 1894trip to the Black Hills and how that became part of my story.   It was shortlyafter that trip that he purchased The Emporia Gazette, which thenbecame his “home base” for the writing he did for the next 50 years. 

 

Shortly before his death in 1944,White wrote how grateful he was to have lived and worked in America.  He said he looked forward to every dayregardless of what it might bring.  “I am not afraid of tomorrow,” hesaid, “for I have seen yesterday, and I love today!”