Alexander Black MacDonald (May 6, 1871 — April 9, 1942) was an American journalist for the ''

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

'' who won a

Pulitzer Prize for Reporting The Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer ...

in 1931 for "his work in connection with a murder in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

." On that assignment, he "solved a murder mystery . . . and brought a guilty man to justice."

Lee Shippey Henry Lee Shippey (February 26, 1884 – December 30, 1969), who wrote under the name Lee Shippey, was an American author and journalist whose romance with a French woman during World War I caused a sensation in the United States as a "famous wa ...

, ''Luckiest Man Alive,'' Los Angeles, Westernlore Press (1959), page 36

Biography

Macdonald was born in New Brunswick, Canada, the son of Alexander Black Macdonald and Jemima McDonald. He later described his father: *"The greatest man I ever knew … was a preacher in a little Canadian village. He preached in three villages, riding on circuit, helping people. He did that for sixty years and died possessing a black broadcloth suit and $125. A great man and a great life." Macdonald emigrated to the United States in 1890, and became naturalized as a citizen in 1896.''Who’s Who in America'', vol. 19 (1936-1937), p. 1555 He quickly established himself as reporter, working first for the ''

Kansas City Times The ''Kansas City Times'' was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, published from 1867 to 1990. The morning ''Kansas City Times'', under ownership of the afternoon '' Kansas City Star'', won two Pulitzer Prizes and was bigger than its ...

'' (1891-1893), then the ''

Kansas City World Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

'' (1893), and ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

'' (1894-1920). He took a leave from newspaper reporting to serve on the staff of ''Country Gentleman'' and ''Ladies’ Home Journal'' (1920-1928), but returned to the ''Kansas City Star'' in 1928, and continued there until his death. Earlier, he had been sent to Oklahoma to cover the chase of

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, "a bandit who rode safely through a surrounding

posse Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates. Posse may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Posse'' (1975 ...

because his sweetheart was on the horse with him and the possemen were too gallant to shoot." After he was assigned to interview evangelist

Billy Sunday William Ashley Sunday (November 19, 1862 – November 6, 1935) was an American evangelist and professional baseball outfielder. He played for eight seasons in the National League before becoming the most influential American preacher during t ...

, he took a leave from the ''Star'' to go to New York to work as Sunday's publicity agent.

References

1942 deaths 1871 births American male journalists Writers from Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City Times people Kansas City World people The Kansas City Star people {{US-journalist-stub