William Allen WhiteA Kansas Portrait
Thereafter until his death in 1944 he wrote countless editorials as well as articles and books that earned him the title of the "Sage of Emporia." Yet one of his most lasting pieces dealt not with politics or business but was written in the Gazette as a eulogy to his daughter, Mary. Mary died in 1921 at the age of sixteen after she was knocked from a horse by an overhanging tree branch. Telling of her zest for life, her interests, her friends, Mr. White created an unforgettable portrait of a young girl, forever vibrant and forever young. Later, White wrote: "My baggage for the short trip into posterity, which I may possibly take, will probably consist of one article less than a thousand words. It would please Mary that she and I should go, hand in hand, together, in our little visible journey, before our road turned into oblivion. |
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For
half a century, Emporia newspaper editor William Allen White had
something to say on virtually every topic that had anything to do
with Kansas or the nation. Born in Emporia in 1868, he grew up in
El Dorado, attended the College of Emporia and the University of
Kansas and worked on newspapers in Topeka and Kansas City before
buying the 
