Bill Henry (journalist)

William Mellors "Bill" Henry (1890 – 1970) was an American writer and reporter who lived and worked primarily in Los Angeles, California. He was primarily known for his daily Los Angeles Times column, "By the Way", which appeared from 1939 to 1971. Henry also served as technical director for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and authored An Approved History of the Olympic Games (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1948).[1][2]

Henry's parents, Margaret Wendell Henry and Dr. John Quincy Adams ("J.Q.A.") Henry, moved their family to Los Angeles in 1907, where Dr. Henry worked as a temperance advocate and pastor of the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles. Henry graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1909, and accompanied his father on a missionary trip to Australia and New Zealand the following year. He attended the University of Sydney, and eventually enrolled at Occidental College in 1912. He began reporting on sports for the Los Angeles Times the same year, while playing football and track, and performing in the glee club at Occidental until his graduation in 1914.[3]

Henry married Corinne Stanton in 1914, with whom he fathered three daughters. In 1919, he briefly left his position at the Times and moved his family to Cleveland, where he worked at an aircraft plant with Glenn L. Martin. He was an aviation enthusiast, and assisted Donald Douglas in establishing the Douglas Aircraft Company in Los Angeles in 1920.[4] From 1920–1926, Henry served as editor of Touring Topics, a membership magazine produced by the Automobile Club of Southern California.[3]

Henry worked as a war correspondent for the Times from 1939–1942, and reported on sports, political conventions, and presidential travel as a news broadcaster for Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS), CBS, and NBC throughout his career. He was also the president of the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association (RTCA) from 1947–1948, and chairman of the Political Conventions Committee of the RTCA from 1952–1968.[5]

Henry continued to write for the Times until his death in 1970 at age 80.[2] Shortly before his death, Henry was announced as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.[6] He is a member of the Occidental College Track and Field Hall of Fame.[7]

See also

References
  1. Henry, William Mellors (1976). Yeomans, Patricia Henry (ed.). An Approved History of the Olympic Games. Putnam. ISBN 978-0399118180.
  2. Dundon, Kate. "Finding aid to the Bill Henry Collection". Occidental College. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  3. Henry, William Mellors (1972). Yeomans, Patricia Henry (ed.). Behind the Headlines with Bill Henry, 1903–1970. Ward Richie Press. pp. 5–10. OCLC 375971.
  4. Gottlieb, Robert (1977). Thinking Big: The Story of the Los Angeles Times, its Publishers, and Their Influence on Southern California. G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 156. ISBN 978-0399117664. OCLC 2646153.
  5. Dundon, Kate. "Bill Henry and the News". Occidental College. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  6. Nixon, Richard (April 22, 1970). "Remarks on Presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Eight Journalists". Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2011-12-25.
  7. http://www.oxyathletics.com/halloffame/trackandfield/HOF
Preceded by
Jim McKay		 American television prime time anchor, Summer Olympic Games
1964		 Succeeded by
Chris Schenkel
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