From Office Boy to Reporter

Larry Dexter #1

by Howard R. Garis

This is the story of how Larry Dexter starts in the lowest position in the newspaper business—that of a copy carrier—and rises to be a reporter. The newspaper covers a wide field, and enters into almost every home, telling of the doings of all the world, including that which takes place right in our midst.

Originally published in 1907 as From Office Boy to Reporter; or, The First Step in Journalism, as part of "The Newspaper Series".

Reissued in 1921 as The Young Reporter at the Big Flood; or, The Perils of News Gathering as part of the "The Young Reporter Series".

Reissued in 1926, under the pen-name 'Raymond Sperry,' as Larry Dexter At The Big Flood; or, The Perils of a Reporter, as part of the "Larry Dexter" series.

311 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Howard Roger Garis graduated from Binghamton High School and attended Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, New Jersey. From 1896 to 1947, Mr. Garis was a reporter and special writer for the Newark, New Jersey "Evening News." His Uncle Wiggily stories first appeared in the "News" in 1910, were sydicated in 1915, and continued to be published for more than forty years, at one time appearing in one hundred newspapers.

Howard R. Garis wrote 35 volumes of Uncle Wiggily stories under his own name, as well as numerous other children's books under several pseudonyms. Among series Garis contributed to are Tom Swift (as Victor Appleton), the Bobbsey Twins (as Laura Lee Hope), the Motor Boys (as Clarence Young), the Great Marvel series, and books featuring Baseball Joe (as Lester Chadwick) and the Camp Fire Girls (as Marion Davidson). He also wrote "With Force of Arms" (1902), four volumes of the Rocket Riders series, and seven volumes of the Teddy series. His wife, Lilian McNamara Garas, whom he married in 1900, collaborated on several of his books including the Bobbsey Twins volumes.

He had a son, Roger.

Reviews

[Dannica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this somewhat at random on Gutenberg. It's like... Fiction For Boys from 1907. A boy comes to the city and eventually becomes a newspaper reporter after getting involved in a lot of coincidences and adventures.

I'm def too old to be the target audience bc I kept on getting distracted by thoughts of "wow, this is really capitalist." Working your way up from the bottom! From $5 a week to $7 and more! Benevolent rich ppl! Scheming striking workers! Lols, I feel like it's such a snippet of the past in so many ways. You gotta love old pulp. But mostly it's Larry just being great at everything and finding out News.

[Ruth Alessi]

A typical boy's adventure novel set in the early 20th century, it gives a dramatic account of a boy down on his lucking finding work as a copy boy with a newspaper. The story follows Larry Dexter from one turn of good luck to another, with a long string of fortunate coincidences followed by Larry using his head to make the best of the situation. The book left a few loose ends, the deed to a property in the Bronx and counterfeit silver dollars amongst them, which I assume are resolved in the promised sequels.

I don't care for extraordinary coincidences allowing a character to get ahead, so this book wasn't my style. It's a fast, easy read and gave me a lot of useful slang from that era.