A Prize Pulitzer

Last week I completed reading James McGrath Morris's fantastic new biography, Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power.

Purchasing this book (along with William Randolph Hearst: The Uncrowned King) was something of a whim. I wanted to read about the journalistic power struggle between these two giants in the early 19th century New York and gain a deeper appreciation for the rise of newspapers and, in particular, the role that one of my own ancestors, R.F. Outcault, played in the drama.

Joseph Pulitzer, in particular, was truly a rags-to-riches story. He was an immigrant who became one of the wealthiest men in the world. He started with nothing and ended with enormous wealth (but also blindness and loneliness). He also endowed Columbia University with the money that still bears his name, and the prizes that are given yearly in the literary community.

R.F. Outcault's comic, the Yellow Kid, was the first widely-read comic strip in America, published in Pulitzer's New York World, and was also at the center of the time in American history that became known as "Yellow Journalism". This era, in many ways, is still with us. But there is no doubt that Pulitzer, Hearst, and Outcault changed the face of publishing in America and ushered newspapers into the modern era.

Of the three, Outcault is the most shrouded in mystery . . . there is not much written about him, and facts and personal information is difficult to come by. Someday, I hope to be the one to write the first biography about him . . .

But until then, I'll just remain his weird great-great-great-great grandson, nephew, or whatever . . . without the "u" in the name. All I know is that most of us Outcalt's live up to our name (which means literally "no gold", or, in modern terminology, "I have no money").

Pulitzer and Hearst on the other hand . . .