Evening star., 1944-07-16
IWofching tie Work, d,
I934-IqA

By Raymond Cldpper. Edited
and NTH a biographical sketch
bv Mrs.. Raymond Clappe9.
Introduction By Ernie Pyle.
(Whittlesey House.
The appearance OF this book,
which consists. IN the main, OF selec-
tions from the Newspaper columns
Of the late Raymond Clapper, may
be taken q Z tribute to 4 well liked
personality rather than as . momen-
tous contribution to the record. The
reviewer says well liked" deliber-
ately. well loved" b the convenA
.tional phrase, but the difference
seems = relevant one. You might
call . man who had been In public
LIE. - Raymond Clapper was. well
loved II you had nothing else to say
about him. Actually, genuinely,
though. Ray Clapper was "liked." /"
The word conveys the neighborly
quality Of the feeling which he In
spired In his readers. They aliked"
him-they liked him ~ they like the
folks they know down the road or
down the block, - the case may be.
He was big shot among big shots.
They understood that. His picture
and his stun appeared on the page
along with the stun of columnists
whose earnings could only be spoken
Of in . whisper, he talked to the
President, he went all around the
world interviewing the great. But he
wrote like . plain man talking horse
sense. And really talking it-not
just dropping into the idiom to prove
how democratic he was. He was no
highbrow coming down to the COM
mon level. And he wasn't q smart
aleck, getting by with scurillities be.
cause OF high nuisance potenti-
atty. He was q plain American In a
position to acquire particular knowl-
edge, handing that knowledge along
to other plain Americans for what
they could make Of it. Yes, on the
whole. like" seems to be the word
for the feeling which he inspired.
He did business with the people.
He produced an article which hum
dreds Of Thousands Of them bought
and took home every day. And 1t Is
improbable that any Of those hun
dreds OF thousands ever thought for q
second that Ray Clapper was delib-
erAtely giving them q bum steer.
They might think he was mistaken,
but that happens to every one. You
don't lose your respect for mans
integrity because he makes an occa-
sional slip after trying his best.
You respect him for trying. ANY,
how. that is what you do in America.
So, going over the collected COL
umns In this volume, We can see to-
day that once In = while Ray Clap
per made . wrong guess. But what
we see constantly-not Just once in
while-is that he judged shrewdly
and well, and wrote 80 that people
could understand him. And, read
ing the biographical sketch supplied
by his widow, we can understand to
. great extent how 1t was that he
could do both 50 naturally. That
sketch relates him very intimately
with one Of our best American ira
ditions.
He was the poor boy who took ad-
vantage Of his opportunities, worked
hard. studied and rose in the ma
terial world without ever seeing rea-
son to forget his early connections
with plain people. He came OF q
Midwest farming family which, In
his fathers day, had turned to fac
tory working because the farm would
no longer support 1t. He delivered
papers, worked In . grocery store,
trained by the apprentice method to
be q printer. worked his way through
not only college but high school. He
had no tradition Of education or
culture behind him. He was Just an
American boy with q spark. f~
His book should be taken in such
way. More than as q collection Of
political writings, it has value as an
accumulation of American tradition
and experience Illuminated by an
American spirit.
1t Is peculiarly fitting, one may
add. that the biographical sketch
should have been written by Mrs.
Clapper, for she was q, life compan-
ion to him in more than the usual
sense. She knew him from his boy
hood; 1t was In her fathers store
that he worked. She eloped with
him and married him when they
were both in high school and so
young that they falsified their ages.
A lone and incredibly youthful
matron among 1000 co-eds. she at
tended Kansas State University with
him. It Is with discrimination and
wisdom that she has written about
him, conveying his close tie with
American tradition without undue
Just with simple pride.
n