1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Ernie Pyle

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Italian_Stallion, Feb 5, 2008.

  1. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member



    So well adjusted, he put a shotgun in his mouth, and left some other poor slobs to clean up the mess.
     
  2. rpmmutant

    rpmmutant Member

    Years ago, my friends found an Ernie Pyle G.I. Joe action figure. Not one of those 6-inch Star Wars action figure wannabe, a full-sized, old-school GI Joe doll. OK there I said it. They gave it to me for my birthday. One of the coolest things I have in my office.
     
  3. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    And to think sportschick was complaining about having to cover American Legion game with Kim Mattingly screaming in her ear.
     

  4. The rules have changed.
    Vietnam was the last war where correspondents could just go out in the field and report. (That's why Herr and Halberstam and the rest of them wrote such great stuff.) The rules got tightened. In the days of "embedded" reporters, the only real Ernie Pyles work for the BBC.
     
  5. ink-stained wretch

    ink-stained wretch Active Member

    War reporting has changed. Good stories haven't. Pyle was a storyteller who understood the power of simple words to describe great deeds, often by simple men and women.

    There are plenty of wars to cover that are not fought by armies.
     
  6. Furry Tractor

    Furry Tractor Member

  7. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Man Pyle was everywhere. I just read a story about him being on the US Biscayne -- one of ships that carried the 3rd inf from North Africa to Sicily. Pyle as favor to ships captain wrote the ships newsletter.
     
  8. Rosie

    Rosie Active Member

    Wow.

    What a powerful picture.

    The AP story (the longer one) brought tears to my eyes. And I'm not even sure why.
     
  9. goalmouth

    goalmouth Well-Known Member

    That didn't come out of the blue. He'd had electro-shock therapy and all but lost his ability to write.
     
  10. Pencil Dick

    Pencil Dick Member

    Johnny Majors when he was at UT was in his usual surly mood during a teleconference one day when he was asked, "Coach, are there any writers you like?" (He'd earlier been complaining about something written about the Vols that he deemed wrong).

    "Well, I like Ernie Pyle," Majors replied.

    "Why Ernie Pyle, Coach?" caller asked.

    "BECAUSE HE'S DEAD," Majors replied.

    End of teleconference.
     
  11. finishthehat

    finishthehat Active Member

    This is only tangentially related -- in that it concerns war reporting and a photograph -- but there was an interesting piece in Sunday's NY Times about the discovery of a long-lost collection of negatives shot by Robert Capa.

    It will probably settle the question once and for all of whether one of his most famous shots -- the Spanish Civil War fighter falling backwards after getting hit by a bullet -- was staged or not.
     
  12. Italian_Stallion

    Italian_Stallion Active Member

    I suppose Seymour Hersh doesn't count these days, but I hold him in high regard, obviously.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page