William Mellors Henry (August 21, 1890 – April 13, 1970) was an American writer and reporter who lived and worked primarily in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He was primarily known for his daily ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' column, "By the Way", which appeared from 1939 to 1971. He died nine days before he was to receive the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

; he was awarded it posthumously.

Early life

Henry was born in San Francisco to Margaret Wendell Henry and Dr. John Quincy Adams ("J.Q.A.") Henry. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1907, where Dr. Henry worked as a temperance advocate and pastor of the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles. Henry graduated from

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

in 1909, and accompanied his father on a missionary trip to Australia and New Zealand the following year. He attended the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, and eventually enrolled at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

in 1912, playing football and track, and performing in the glee club at Occidental until his graduation in 1914.

Career

In 1912, Henry began reporting on sports for the ''Los Angeles Times'', while at Occidental College. In 1919, he briefly left his position at the ''Times'' and moved his family to Cleveland, where he worked at an aircraft plant with Glenn L. Martin. He was an aviation enthusiast, and assisted Donald Douglas in establishing the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and military, defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell D ...

in Los Angeles in 1920. From 1920–1926, Henry served as editor of ''Touring Topics'', a membership magazine produced by the

Automobile Club of Southern California The Automobile Club of Southern California is the Southern California affiliate of the American Automobile Association (AAA) federation of motor clubs. The Auto Club was founded on December 13, 1900, in Los Angeles as one of the nation's first mo ...

. Henry worked as a war correspondent for the ''Times'' from 1939–1942, and reported on sports, political conventions, and presidential travel as a news broadcaster for

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...

(MBS),

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

throughout his career. He was also the president of the

Radio and Television Correspondents' Association The Radio and Television Correspondents' Association of Washington, D.C. (RTCA) is an American broadcast journalism group of news reporters from around the world who cover the United States Congress.

Olympic Games

Henry also served as technical director for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and authored ''An Approved History of the Olympic Games'' (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1948).

Personal life

Henry married Corinne Stanton in 1914, with whom he fathered three daughters. Shortly before his death, Henry was announced as a recipient of the

, the highest civilian award in the United States. He is a member of the Occidental College Track and Field Hall of Fame. He died at a hospital in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List of minor biblica ...

Works

Popular culture

''An Approved History of the Olympic Games'' inspired

David Puttnam David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (; born 25 February 1941), is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include '' Chariots of Fire' ...

to develop the 1981 British historical sports drama film, ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

''.Goodell, Gregory
''Independent Feature Film Production: A Complete Guide from Concept Through Distribution.''
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982. p. xvii.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Bill 1890 births 1970 deaths Journalists from San Francisco Occidental College alumni American television sports anchors Los Angeles Times people American television sports announcers Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients American war correspondents of World War II 20th-century American journalists American male journalists University of Sydney alumni