John Gunther

Biography

John Gunther, born August 30, 1901 in Lake View, Chicago and died May 29, 1970 in New York, was an American journalist and writer. He is best known for his series of books "Inside Books", on the socio-cultural aspects of the major continents. He also gained great fame for a heartbreaking book "Death Be Not Proud" in which he recounts the death of his 17-year-old son from a brain tumor. John Gunther studied at the University of Chicago, where he was responsible for the student newspaper. He entered as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News, and left for Europe, at the London office as a correspondent. He thus visited all the countries of Europe, except Portugal. In 1927 he married journalist Frances Fineman. They divorced after the painful ordeal of their son's death, and John remarried two years later to Jane Perry Vadercook. They adopted a boy. For each of the books in the "Inside..." series, John Gunther traveled and interviewed actors in social life, both heads of state and ordinary citizens. His book "Inside Europe" had a worldwide impact, in particular because it depicted Hitler Mussolini and Stalin when they were beginning to impose themselves on the international scene. "Inside USA" was staged as a Broadway musical in 1948, with 399 performances. Besides this series, Gunther wrote eight novels and biographies, notably of Roosevelt and Eisenhower (before his election). John Gunther died in 1970 of liver cancer.