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Irwin, Will, 1873-1948

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1873 - 1948

Biography

Will Irwin, American journalist and author. Irwin was born September 14, 1873, in Oneida, New York. He received a B.A. from Stanford University in 1899. He worked for a number of years as a newspaper report at the San Francisco Wave, the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Sun, and then for a year as a writing editor at McClure's in 1906.

Irwin then spent a number of years as a free-lance journalist and fiction writer. In 1915 he went abroad as a war correspondent and covered World War I action for both British and American periodicals. Following several years of observing and reporting on the war, Irwin returned to the United States in 1920. He thereafter wrote numerous anti-war publications, among them his best-selling book The Next War (1921). His other books include Christ or Mars? (1923), Herbert Hoover: A Reminiscent Biography (1928), Propaganda and the News; or, What Makes You Think So? (1936), his autobiographical Making of a Reporter (1942), and The American Newspaper (1969).

Irwin died of cerebral occlusion, February 24, 1948, in Greenwich Village, New York.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Will Irwin and Inez Haynes Gillmore papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 603
Abstract:

The collection consists primarly of correspondence and diaries, as well as a small amount of writings, photographs, and clippings, documenting the life and work of Inez Haynes Irwin and Will Irwin.

Dates: 1887-1961, bulk 1904-1961

Sidney Edward Mezes papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 657
Abstract:

Correspondence of Sidney Mezes relating to his work with "The Inquiry" and the American Commission to Negotiate Peace in Paris at the end of World War I. Also included are a group of miscellaneous memoranda and notes.

Dates: 1918-1931, bulk 1918-1919