Megan McKinney

The author tells the tale of the Medill clan, a wealthy family that played a huge role in the establishment of modern-day journalism. What I think you’ll enjoy about the book:

• An entertaining perspective on US history from the Civil War through the mad early 1900s to modern day, including episodes that have been largely forgotten but that were famous/infamous in their day: the Great Chicago fire, the bloody Chicago circulation wars, the curious history of the Hope Diamond.

• Vignettes about America’s intellectual and social elite; through history, the fates/fortunes of the Medill clan intertwined with such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln, various Roosevelts (including FDR’s infamously wild daughter Alice), Vandebilts, Guggenheims, Hearsts, Fields, and other American luminaries from the world of politics, literature, entertainment, and “society”.

• The Medills themselves, as eccentric and dysfunctional a family as you’re likely to encounter in non-fiction. In addition to dabbling in journalism, various Medills wrote best-selling books and plays, won glory in WWI, rubbed shoulders with Russian royalty, dabbled in socialism, gained renown as big game hunters and aviators, hosted extravagant Gatsby-ish entertainments, built even more extravagant estates, became entangled in any number of scandals (usually sexual), and rarely missed an opportunity to destroy each other and themselves.

What you might find a little more taxing:

• So many Medills! All with them with more than one nickname and any number of marriages. Even though the author provides a genealogy, I had to take notes on the back pages of the book to keep all the personalities straight.

• McKinney faces the problem so many biographers face: the tension between maintaining thoroughness/accuracy while simultaneously spinning an interesting tale. For the most part she succeeds, but sometimes the details take over her overarching narrative. Alternating with the more interesting bits are long sections of decidedly less riveting information, including business maneuvers and buyouts, so many whirlwind trips overseas that I lost track, innumerable family spats, long paragraphs describing countless houses/estates/weddings, and dozens of friendships/love affairs that confuse rather than enlighten.

This wasn't the easiest read - partly because of the uneven pace of the book, partly because I had a hard time liking any of the main characters. Even so, I don't regret the time I spent getting to know the Medills, if only because it exposed me to chapters of US history I hadn't encountered before and deepened my understanding of a social class in the U.S. about which I knew little.… (más)

The old saying that if you're rich, you're eccentric and if you're poor, you're insane, certainly applies to this large family. Joseph Medill, of Chicago Tribune famed spawned a magnificent family alright but nearly all of them were definitely eccentric. The fact that most of them died of cirrhosis of the liver from a lifetime of heavy drinking is just the beginning of their story.

Since this family was high society in Chicago, New York, and Washington, the reader learns interesting facts about other well known people of their time as well as tidbits that I would classify as gossip. One married Drew Pearson, for instance, so we get an entirely different look at his life than in other works.

Arguably the most influential in politics was Joseph Medill who was a founder of the Republican Party and was close to Abraham Lincoln. So close in fact that when Medill walked into his own office and found Lincoln sitting with his feet up on the desk, he yelled at him to get his feet off of it.

The Tribune was located in a "fireproof" building at the time of the great Chicago fire, and of course burned down. Afterward, Medill was mayor of that city. However, his two daughters were, though elegant and educated, known as "she-devils." They meddled incessantly in their children's lives until they died.

Perhaps the best known person in the family was Cissy Patterson, one of Joseph's granddaughters. She was a friend of Alice Roosevelt (Teddy's flamboyant daughter), the publisher of a Washington newspaper, and mixed with presidents, artists, and other famous people. Her love life was a scandal.

I could go on and on about this book and the Medill family. I found their story fascinating. I have a proof of the book so I'm anxious to see the finished product because I want to see the pictures that will be included. I highly recommend this one. (Source: Amazon Vine)… (más)