Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-03-01
Tex McCrary
Gives Runyon
An Old Thrill
.FIiqht Aboard Bomber
Recalls Yesterdays
by DAMON RUNYON

WE GOT vicarious thrill out
w of TEX" McCrarys ride TO
England in an American bomber.
This is reportorial stuff of the
old school. Floyd Gibbons used
to do things like that. Gibbons
was the greatest Adventures
reporter since Henry NJ. STAN
ley. Eddie Neal was pretty much
in the same class. He got killed
in the civil war in Spain. Eddie
would have gone far.
McCrary- is a 30-year-old
Texan and Yale graduate. He
signs himself j. Reagan Nc
Crazy. He is chief editorial
writer of the New York Daily
Mirror. slender. good looking
and of force and imagination.
He is of the new generation of
newspapermen that will shape
the newspapers of the future.
Great things were predicted
of him almost from the moment
he broke into the game. He is
the type you notice right away.
His Mirror editorials have been
attracting wide attention for
some time. He was schooled in
editorial writing by the late Ar
thur Brisbane. the king of them
all.
Now the chief editorial writer
of newspaper Is not commonly
the fellow who sallies forth on
dangerous errands. In fact, he
seldom sallies at all. He usually
sits back in remote reeHi- In he
office pounding out his editorials
on typewriter after comforting
with the other editors on sub
ject matter.
The chief editorial writer's
job is to analyze and clarity the
events of the day for the read
ers of his newspapers and give
expression to the papers views,
if any.
QUT of course not many chief
- editorial writers are only 80
years old, like Tex MeCrary.
AS a rule, by the time a man
achieves the dignity and impor-
lance of that position he has
also reached an age at which the
yennion to sally forth has long
since petered out.
1t may throb vaguely when
he is lying in bed O nights null
ing things over in his mind. but
it passes with the morning light.
We cannot think of another
chief editorial writer of our ac-
quaintance of sufficient physical
resiliency to Scroonch down IN a
bomber and ride those long.
perilouS hours across the dark
ocean. though we know a num-
Der who wish they could. You
cannot be much beyond 30 and
take jauntS like that.
Tex" wanted to see what is
going on over there with his
own eyes. He has Unsuitable
curiosity about things, which is
the true newspaper instinct. We
have encountered him in the
most improbable places for an
editorial writer, just looking
around.
In addition 10 editorials. he
sometimes writes personality
column for the Mirror and he
likes to do his own photography
for this. He is camera bug
and greatly fancieS his own art
istry in posing and lighting his
subjects.
His choice of the bomber as a
means of transportation to Eu-
rope was partly matter of
eXpediency. He was in a hurry
to get there. But of course he
was not overlooking the oppor-
tunity for a story,
His tale of the journey for the
Mirror and International News
Service is one of those epicS of
journalism that spring red hot
from the soul of newspaper
man when he lives a story. No
better piece of writing has been
produced by this war, which has
been amazingly productive of
good writing.
WE SUPPOSE it would ~bc-d