'Where we're headed that matters most'

 

“What makes a river so restful topeople is that it doesn't have any doubt - it is sure to get where it is going,and it doesn't want to go anywhere else.” – HalBoyle

 

While he wrote mostly of nature inhis final years, Boyle (born in Missouri in 1911) is best known for his syndicatednewspaper column, and his work as a war correspondent and writer at conflictsand troubled spots around the world.  Hewon the first of his Pulitzer Prizes in 1945 for “Distinguished Correspondence”for his Front Line reporting during WWII.  The Overseas Press Club continues to honor Boyle’s legacy with an annual award inhis name.

 

Boyle also won the Pulitzer for hisnewspaper column, which became a staple in over 700 newspapers and was a “mustread” for millions. In his lifetime he wrote the column nearly 8,000 times, spawning a couple of bestselling books, including The Best of Boyle and The World of Hal Boyle.  To see and hear Boyle, check out the 1945 film dramatization of Ernie Pyle'sbook, The Story of G.I. Joe, where Boyle portrayshimself. 

 

Shortly before his death in 1974 andthoroughly disgusted and ashamed by how people treated each other and theearth, he noted, “We need not worry so much about what man descends from - it'swhat he descends to that shames the human race.”