Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. Ellis began his
diary
A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...
in 1927 as a teenager and wrote almost every day for more than 70 years, filling a volume each year.
He was believed to be the most prolific diarist in the history of American letters, writing an estimated 22 million words.Janny Scott Edward Robb Ellis Dies at 87; Diarist of 22 Million Words ''New York Times'', September 9, 1998. He was listed in the ''
Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
Dayton, Washington
Dayton is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,526 at the 2010 census.
History
Dayton was founded in the 1860s. A town site plat was filed by Jesse N. and Elizabeth Day on November ...
, with 37.5 million words and crammed with minutiae of daily living, were revealed in 1994.
Ellis authored books on the Great Depression and New York City, as well as a study of
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...
. According to his book ''A Diary of the Century'', his diaries were bequeathed to the
Fales Library New York University's Fales Library and Special Collections is located on the third floor of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at 70 Washington Square South between LaGuardia Place and the Schwartz Plaza, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manha ...
at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
after his death.Fales Library Guide to the Edward Robb Ellis Papers .
Biography
Edward Robb Ellis was born in 1911 in
Kewanee, Illinois
Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, Henry County, Illinois, United States. "Kewanee" is the Ho-Chunk, Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 at the 2020 census, down from 12,944 in 20 ...
, where he grew up. He began writing his diary in 1927 as part of a bet with two other young men as to who could keep up a journal the longest.Judie Glave, No writer's block here: Man has kept a diary for 64 years. ''Prescott Courier'', 1991-09-13.
Ellis was determined to be a reporter from an early age. He started out writing feature stories for his hometown's '' Star Courier'' newspaper, and attended the journalism program at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...
. In 1934 he took a job as a professional reporter for the New Orleans
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...
office. In this position he covered the events of the Great Depression and the political career of
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...
. After two years in New Orleans, he moved to Oklahoma City and became a journalist for the ''Oklahoma City Times'', covering New Deal offices and programs. As part of this position he reported on the Oklahoma Federal Symphony Orchestra, which was funded by the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...
. Through this assignment, he met and fell in love with the principal violinist, Leatha Sparlin. They married in 1939 and moved to
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Centr ...
, where he worked for the ''Journal-Transcript''. The couple then moved to Chicago where he worked for the ''Daily News''. Their daughter, Sandra Gail Ellis, was born on December 28, 1942.
Shortly after Sandra's birth, Ellis became aware that a previous diagnosis of a hernia was incorrect. He anticipated being drafted and consequently sought a commission in the navy. He was unable to receive one as he was underweight. As a result, he joined the navy and reported to training on November 7, 1942. With diary keeping prohibited in the armed forces, he changed its format from private entries to letters to his wife and daughter.
Ellis detested boot camp, and upon finishing he was appointed editor of the navy hospital newspaper called ''The Bedside Examiner''. He used his position to publish editorials promoting enlisted people's rights as well as critiques of war. After basic training he was stationed in
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
where he continued to publish a newspaper, this time explicitly to improve the sailors' morale. Four months later the war ended and he returned to the United States. His wife requested a divorce which he granted the following month; he returned to Chicago to work at the ''Daily News''.
Ellis did not fit in under the new management at the newspaper in Chicago and soon left for New York to work at the ''World Telegram''. Ellis loved New York City deeply and would remain there for the rest of his life, eventually meeting and marrying Ruth Kraus with whom he had an exceptionally happy marriage. After 15 years at the ''World Telegram'', Ellis quit after a disagreement with a city editor. He used his time unemployed to write several books, often with Ruth's help. Four of these books were published in his lifetime.
Ruth died suddenly of a heart attack in 1965. Ellis went on to have several extended romances, one with June Morgan and another with Selma Pezaro. Although Ellis was not a strong presence in his daughter's childhood, he and Sandy became close in her adulthood, writing numerous letters and challenging each other intellectually. He also forged mentoring relationships with other diarists, usually through interviews and by publishing parts of the diary in ''A Diary of the Century''.
Ellis was a contributor to ''Diarist's Journal'', a quarterly newspaper by, for and about diarists, published by Ed Gildea of
Lansford, Pennsylvania
Lansford is a county-border borough (town) in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is located northwest of Allentown and 19 miles south of Hazleton in the Panther Creek Valley about from Philadelphia and ab ...
.Lena Williams Private Thoughts, Public Revelations ''The New York Times'', 1993-12-16. His reputation as a diarist led Letts of London to hire him as a consultant, and to create a diary modeled on his recommendations called "The Ellis Diary."
Ellis' apartment on the third floor on W. 21st St. in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
was filled with words—both his own and from other collected books and articles. It was difficult to move about, with books stacked randomly in high piles. Ellis would laugh at his own lack of organizing skills, and was happy to serve guests tea and talk about various subjects.
Throughout his career as a reporter, Ellis interviewed numerous celebrities and public figures including
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...
,
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
,
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956.
Kell ...
and
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, holding o ...
. The diary records his impressions of these famous personalities. Ellis was equally fascinated by the experiences and perceptions of ordinary people. He prided himself on his curiosity and eagerness to learn and considered himself what
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
called "a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." The diary is a collection of those trifles and an attempt by its author,
Pete Hamill
Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...
writes in the introduction to ''A Diary of the Century'', "to freeze time" and reflect on himself and humanity.
Ellis continued to write until his death from
emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the a ...
in 1998.
Bibliography
* ''Traitor Within: Our Suicide Problem'' (with George Allen). Doubleday, 1961.
* ''The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History''. Coward-McCann, 1966.
* ''A Nation in Torment: The Great American Depression, 1929-1939.'' Perigee Trade, 1972.
* ''Echoes of Distant Thunder: Life in the United States, 1914-1918''. Coward-McCann, 1975.
* ''A Diary of the Century: Tales by America's Greatest Diarist''. Kodansha, 1995.