Mary L. McNeil
National WWII Museum Webinar on Century's Witness
Century’s Witness
The Extraordinary Life
of Journalist Wallace Carroll
Press Release: Journalist's Biography
Sweeps the Book of the Year Awards
The untold story of one of the greatest American journalists of the 20th century
A “journalist’s journalist,” Wallace Carroll covered the most significant events of the 20th century, from the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, to the United States’ withdrawal from the Vietnam War. Universally respected by his peers, his commitment to the power of words and an independent press were legendary; his life is essential reading for those who believe a trusted and reasoned press is crucial to the preservation of our democracy.
Ask your local bookstore
or order online
PRAISE FOR
CENTURY’S WITNESS
Mary Llewellyn McNeil’s warm telling of [Carroll’s] extraordinary life is the best roadmap I know of if we aim to restore journalism’s power to inform and persuade.
—Jon Sawyer, Executive Director, the Pulitzer Center
With crisp prose, fine research and a clear moral purpose, Mary McNeil shines a light on Wallace Carroll and in so doing, powerfully illuminates the current troubles of journalism—particularly the loss of local news. To today's journalists, Wallace is less well known than his son, John, who became the editor of the Los Angeles Times, but he is no less worthy of recognition. McNeil's thoughtful and well executed study should go a long way toward giving this exemplary journalist his due.
—Margaret Sullivan, former Media Columnist, The Washington Post
Mary Llewellyn McNeil's perceptive biography of Wallace Carroll shows how one self-effacing editor set the standard for quality coverage from London during wartime, and then from Washington and the South in the 1950s and 1960s. The Wallace Carroll playbook, with its insistence on thoroughness and fairness, continues to inform generations of journalists as we confront increased economic pressures and propagandists bent on undermining trust in our work.
—Norman Pearlstine, Executive Editor (retired), Los Angeles Times
This well-told story of a gentleman journalist is a trip back to a time when that phrase did not strike most Americans as an oxymoron, and when vibrant local newspapers were both causes and effects of national vigor.
—George F. Will, Columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner
