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Ben Robertson: South Carolina Journalist and Author
In Ben South Carolina Journalist and Author , Jodie Peeler tells the story of a man consumed with a need to see the world but whose heart never really left home. Drawing heavily on Robertson's writings and personal papers, Peeler describes his active career as a journalist, which took him to Hawaii, Australia, Europe, Java, New York, and Washington, D.C.
The early years of Robertson's career were spent as a reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune . After several years as a freelance writer, he became a World War II correspondent covering England for the New York newspaper PM . While Robertson's wartime dispatches drew attention and praise, they represented but one aspect of the man's wide-ranging works and career, for the Ben Robertson who witnessed destruction and heroism in the fires of London was also a proud son of South Carolina.
In addition to his work as a journalist. Robertson wrote three books. Travelers' Rest , a fictionalized account of his ancestors' settling in South Carolina, ruffled southern feathers. In I Saw England he presents a firsthand account of the Battle of Britain and advocates for the United States to intervene in World War II. His heartfelt memoir, Red Hills and Cotton , which recalls his boyhood days in Pickens County and calls for the South to look to the future, became a southern classic. In 1943, while en route to his new job as London bureau chief for the New York Herald-Tribune , Robertson lost his life in a plane crash.
Throughout his decidedly brief but adventurous life, Robertson never stopped being what one friend described as "a sentimental South Carolinian who carried his dreams on the tip of his tongue." And over time he evolved into a progressive voice calling on the South to reevaluate its attitudes on race and economics. This is the story of that proud South Carolinian, from the dreams that propelled him around the world to the sentiment that always called him home.
The early years of Robertson's career were spent as a reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune . After several years as a freelance writer, he became a World War II correspondent covering England for the New York newspaper PM . While Robertson's wartime dispatches drew attention and praise, they represented but one aspect of the man's wide-ranging works and career, for the Ben Robertson who witnessed destruction and heroism in the fires of London was also a proud son of South Carolina.
In addition to his work as a journalist. Robertson wrote three books. Travelers' Rest , a fictionalized account of his ancestors' settling in South Carolina, ruffled southern feathers. In I Saw England he presents a firsthand account of the Battle of Britain and advocates for the United States to intervene in World War II. His heartfelt memoir, Red Hills and Cotton , which recalls his boyhood days in Pickens County and calls for the South to look to the future, became a southern classic. In 1943, while en route to his new job as London bureau chief for the New York Herald-Tribune , Robertson lost his life in a plane crash.
Throughout his decidedly brief but adventurous life, Robertson never stopped being what one friend described as "a sentimental South Carolinian who carried his dreams on the tip of his tongue." And over time he evolved into a progressive voice calling on the South to reevaluate its attitudes on race and economics. This is the story of that proud South Carolinian, from the dreams that propelled him around the world to the sentiment that always called him home.
- GenresHistory
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 30, 2019
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 19, 2022
I loved this book, and expect to dig into Robertson anew.
Jodie Peeler digs in the relevant archives and literature to better document the author of three books and fine journalism - and political work. Robertson's travels lead him to document inequalities, colonial legacies, and suffering, bringing him back to South Carolina and politics with critical views. There is even the hint of work sharing intelligence - or at least first hand reportage - with State Department and the nascent O.S.S. Then, Robertson's plane goes down approaching Lisbon in the Tagus River.
Peeler succeeds in connecting Robertson to his home and his world. Robertson was a great individual talent and a great friend to my maternal grandfather, Wright Bryan, Sr., both growing into journalists as the sons of Clemson faculty. Papa refers in his introduction to "Red Hills and Cotton"(1960; University of South Carolina Press edition) Red Hills and Cotton: An Upcountry Memory to the Friends of Ben Robertson.
Check the list I started sparked by this biography, here:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Highest recommendation.
Thanks to Emory University's loan of the book, published by University of South Carolina Press in 2019. Delayed by the pandemic, this short book lit me up.
Jodie Peeler digs in the relevant archives and literature to better document the author of three books and fine journalism - and political work. Robertson's travels lead him to document inequalities, colonial legacies, and suffering, bringing him back to South Carolina and politics with critical views. There is even the hint of work sharing intelligence - or at least first hand reportage - with State Department and the nascent O.S.S. Then, Robertson's plane goes down approaching Lisbon in the Tagus River.
Peeler succeeds in connecting Robertson to his home and his world. Robertson was a great individual talent and a great friend to my maternal grandfather, Wright Bryan, Sr., both growing into journalists as the sons of Clemson faculty. Papa refers in his introduction to "Red Hills and Cotton"(1960; University of South Carolina Press edition) Red Hills and Cotton: An Upcountry Memory to the Friends of Ben Robertson.
Check the list I started sparked by this biography, here:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
Highest recommendation.
Thanks to Emory University's loan of the book, published by University of South Carolina Press in 2019. Delayed by the pandemic, this short book lit me up.
Displaying 1 of 1 review