Tobin, James

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Tobin, James

PERSONAL: Married; children: two daughters. Education: University of Michigan, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Fletcher & Parry, 121 E. 17th St., New York, NY 10003. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Detroit News, Detroit, MI, reporter, 1986–98; freelance writer, 1998–.

AWARDS, HONORS: Pulitzer Prize nomination, Columbia University; National Book Critics Circle Award, 1997, for Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II; J. Anthony Lukas Work in Progress Award, 2000, for To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight.

WRITINGS:

Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II, Free Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Great Projects, Free Press (New York, NY), 2001.

To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight, Free Press (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: James Tobin's Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II "is undoubtedly the best biography of Ernie Pyle ever written," commented Malcolm W. Browne in the New York Times Book Review. Ernie Pyle's War documents the professional and personal life of Ernie Pyle, a journalist who became the most famous war correspondent of World War II. Browne added that "few books about combat journalism have so vividly depicted the fascinating interactions between war correspondents, soldiers, and the folks back home."

Pyle was born to an Indiana farm family in 1900. In 1923 he dropped out of Indiana University to accept a reporting position with the LaPorte Herald and soon after moved to Washington, DC, to work for the Washington Daily News. Pyle covered various aspects of World War II as a correspondent for Scripps-Howard newspapers. He became known for his depiction of the common soldier, and Americans on the home front read his column to find information about American soldiers fighting abroad. According to Nieman Reports contributor Jack Foisie, Pyle "captivated American readers through World War II by writing about the frontline soldier, hardly ever about generals and strategy." Pyle was shot and killed on April 18, 1945 while covering the invasion of Okinawa in the Pacific. By the time of his death, Pyle had become a best-selling author and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize. His life was later depicted in the film The Story of G.I. Joe, with actor Burgess Meredith playing Pyle.

"Tobin's account is a balanced tribute to the quintessential war correspondent," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor discussing Ernie Pyle's War. Reviewing the work in Booklist, Margaret Flanagan called the book "a respectful and insightful biography of a giant among journalists." Concluding his New York Times Book Review discussion of Ernie Pyle's War, Browne observed that "World War II was quintessentially Ernie Pyle's war, and Mr. Tobin brilliantly explains why."