In an era when corporate ownership of newspapers was making editorial writers little more than mere hirelings, Frank I.Cobb enjoyed the freedom to speak his mind--and he spoke it well, for few editorial writers of the twentieth century have matched Cobb for forcefulness and clearness of style. He was fortunate to work for the New York World, where publisher Joseph Pulitzer's attitude toward journalism left little doubt that Cobb could write with authority. The combination of style and freedom made Cobb's editorials among the most respected of his time and Cobb among perhaps the ten best editorial writers in American history. The World's editorial page was considered by many contemporaries the most influential in the nation and is credited by some journalism historians with inspiring a renaissance of the newspaper editorial function.

Francis Irving Cobb was born in Shannon County, Kansas, on 6 August 1869, a raw place...