Cook County IL Archives News.....Bert Leston Taylor Dies 1921 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00003.html#0000719 October 24, 2011, 8:11 pm Journal Of IL State Historical Society, Vol 14 1921 Humorist, Editor "A Line o Type or Two" on the Chicago Tribune died at his temporary home at 195 East Chestnut Street, Chicago, March 19. He was born in Goshen, Massachusetts, on November 13, 1866, educated at the College of the city of New York. As soon as he was graduated he entered newspaper work, serving as a reporter and as a writer on several weeklies and dailies. Later he was an editor of a newspaper at Greenfield, New Hampshire. In 1895, Mr. Taylor married Miss Emma Bonner of Providence, Rhode Island. The following year he came west and was editor of the Duluth News Tribune for three years. In 1899 he came to Chicago and began the career in which he became noted. A column known as "A Little about Everything" had been started in the Chicago Journal. Originally it had been intended to contain brief items of news. Gradually these were interspersed with humorous paragraphs and bits of verse. When Mr. Taylor took charge of the column he changed it materially and the column became famous. The editors of "The Tribune", impressed with the originality of his work and style, asked him to join "The Tribune" staff and he began to conduct "A Line o' Type or Two", a column that has been read and commented on all over the world. Its success was immediate. Almost immediately his initials "B. L. T." became as critics often have said, "the most famous initials in America." Proof of this was given by the post office officials, who often forwarded mail addressed only with the initials. In 1903, Mi*. Taylor resigned from The Tribune to go to New York, where for six years he was a contributor to Puck and the New York Sun. In 1909 he returned to Chicago and the Tribune and resumed "The Line". He was regarded as the dean of America's column conductors, having developed paragraphing into its present prominent position as a newspaper feature. His daily mail was voluminous, his contributors numbering thousands. To make the Line became a coveted privilege for which some of the leading literary lights of the country strove. All masked their identity. Conducting "The Line" was only a part of Mr. Taylor's literary labors. He contributed verse and articles, particularly concerning golf, his favorite recreation, to many magazines. In addition he was the author of several books including "The Well in the Wood", published in 1904; "The Charlatans" 1906; "A Line o' Verse or Two", 1911; "The Pipesmoke Carry", 1912; and "Motley Measures", 1913. Mr. Taylor's home was in Glencoe. There survive besides the widow, two daughters, Alva Thoits Taylor and Barbara Leston Taylor. Additional Comments: Source: Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Published Quarterly by the Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield, Illinois. Vol. 14 April- July, 1921 No. 1-2. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/cook/newspapers/bertlest258gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 3.4 Kb