Ray E. Boomhower
@rboomhower.bsky.social
Ex-journalist. Biographer of Ernie Pyle, Richard Tregaskis, Malcolm Browne, and Robert Sherrod. Biography about groundbreaking journalist Wallace H. Terry available October 2026 from @unmpress.bsky.social. https://rayeboomhowerbooks.com/
"Few things anywhere contain the frenzy, the drama, the unbelievable tensions and pressures of a presidential campaign. . . . It is a bloody and bloodthirsty spectacle. But there is a fascination and exhilaration in it too."
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-...
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-...
John Bartlow Martin, Robert F. Kennedy, and the 1968 Indiana Primary
In the 1960s the Marott Hotel, located on the near north side of Indianapolis at 2625 North Meridian Street, had faded from its original glo...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:19 PM
"Few things anywhere contain the frenzy, the drama, the unbelievable tensions and pressures of a presidential campaign. . . . It is a bloody and bloodthirsty spectacle. But there is a fascination and exhilaration in it too."
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-...
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-...
"Baseball is dull only to dull minds."
Red Barber, born on this day in 1908
Red Barber, born on this day in 1908
February 17, 2026 at 5:08 PM
"Baseball is dull only to dull minds."
Red Barber, born on this day in 1908
Red Barber, born on this day in 1908
“Everyone forgets Icarus also flew. ”
Jack Gilbert
Jack Gilbert
February 17, 2026 at 1:42 PM
“Everyone forgets Icarus also flew. ”
Jack Gilbert
Jack Gilbert
"Can you understand being alone so long
you would go out in the middle of the night
and put a bucket into the well
so you could feel something down there
tug at the other end of the rope?”
Jack Gilbert, born on this day in 1925
you would go out in the middle of the night
and put a bucket into the well
so you could feel something down there
tug at the other end of the rope?”
Jack Gilbert, born on this day in 1925
February 17, 2026 at 12:20 PM
"Can you understand being alone so long
you would go out in the middle of the night
and put a bucket into the well
so you could feel something down there
tug at the other end of the rope?”
Jack Gilbert, born on this day in 1925
you would go out in the middle of the night
and put a bucket into the well
so you could feel something down there
tug at the other end of the rope?”
Jack Gilbert, born on this day in 1925
On this day in 1942, American reporters sailed off to war. One of them, Robert L. Sherrod of “Time” magazine, told his editors, “It looks like the assignment of a lifetime.”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2017/11/on-h...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2017/11/on-h...
On the High Seas: Robert L. Sherrod Sails to Australia
In long lines, the men moved forward, shuffling along the covered San Francisco pier at night to the ships that would take them to a destin...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 17, 2026 at 11:13 AM
On this day in 1942, American reporters sailed off to war. One of them, Robert L. Sherrod of “Time” magazine, told his editors, “It looks like the assignment of a lifetime.”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2017/11/on-h...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2017/11/on-h...
"I forgave the DAR many years ago. You lose a lot of time hating people."
Marian Anderson, born on this day in 1902
youtu.be/mAONYTMf2pk
Marian Anderson, born on this day in 1902
youtu.be/mAONYTMf2pk
Marian Anderson Sings at Lincoln Memorial
YouTube video by RobertHJacksonCenter
youtu.be
February 17, 2026 at 11:00 AM
"I forgave the DAR many years ago. You lose a lot of time hating people."
Marian Anderson, born on this day in 1902
youtu.be/mAONYTMf2pk
Marian Anderson, born on this day in 1902
youtu.be/mAONYTMf2pk
Did you know that Benjamin Harrison, after his presidency ended and he returned to his home in Indianapolis, had a brief career as a crime stopper? Check out this article from the January 15, 1899, "New York Times." #PresidentsDay
February 17, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Did you know that Benjamin Harrison, after his presidency ended and he returned to his home in Indianapolis, had a brief career as a crime stopper? Check out this article from the January 15, 1899, "New York Times." #PresidentsDay
For #PresidentsDay: Did you know that Benjamin Harrison is the only president to have a fellow Civil War general (Lew Wallace), a Jesuit priest (Harry J. Sievers), a professor (Charles W. Calhoun), and a Mishawaka High School graduate (yours truly) serve as his biographers? You could look it up.
February 16, 2026 at 6:32 PM
For #PresidentsDay: Did you know that Benjamin Harrison is the only president to have a fellow Civil War general (Lew Wallace), a Jesuit priest (Harry J. Sievers), a professor (Charles W. Calhoun), and a Mishawaka High School graduate (yours truly) serve as his biographers? You could look it up.
“I could throw this country into civil war, but I won’t.”
#PresidentsDay
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-he...
#PresidentsDay
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-he...
A Heartbeat Away: Thomas Marshall and Woodrow Wilson’s Illness
J. Fred Essary, the Washington correspondent for the Baltimore Sun , found himself confronted with a delicate assignment in the fall of 191...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:29 PM
“I could throw this country into civil war, but I won’t.”
#PresidentsDay
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-he...
#PresidentsDay
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-he...
“I’ve devoted my life to art and its teaching, to me it represents a daily challenge—a challenge to express successfully that which I feel deeply and visualize in my mind’s eye.”
Garo Antreasian, born on this day in Indianapolis in 1922
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-...
Garo Antreasian, born on this day in Indianapolis in 1922
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-...
February 16, 2026 at 3:16 PM
“I’ve devoted my life to art and its teaching, to me it represents a daily challenge—a challenge to express successfully that which I feel deeply and visualize in my mind’s eye.”
Garo Antreasian, born on this day in Indianapolis in 1922
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-...
Garo Antreasian, born on this day in Indianapolis in 1922
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-...
On this day in 1946, freelancer John Bartlow Martin received his discharge from the army. Martin set out to write "not an article, crammed with demographers’ statistics, but, rather, a story about a man.” He accomplished his task with James Hickman.
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/05/no-p...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/05/no-p...
No Place to Go: John Bartlow Martin and James Hickman
For millions of veterans following the end of World War II, their return home resembled what they had gone through upon their induction into...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:58 PM
On this day in 1946, freelancer John Bartlow Martin received his discharge from the army. Martin set out to write "not an article, crammed with demographers’ statistics, but, rather, a story about a man.” He accomplished his task with James Hickman.
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/05/no-p...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2023/05/no-p...
Distinguished American historian and diplomat Henry Adams considered Benjamin Harrison to be “an excellent President, a man of ability and force; perhaps the best President the Republican Party had put forward since [Abraham] Lincoln’s death.”
#PresidentsDay
#PresidentsDay
February 16, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Distinguished American historian and diplomat Henry Adams considered Benjamin Harrison to be “an excellent President, a man of ability and force; perhaps the best President the Republican Party had put forward since [Abraham] Lincoln’s death.”
#PresidentsDay
#PresidentsDay
"I have written too much history to have faith in it; and if anyone thinks I'm wrong, I am inclined to agree with him."
Henry Adam
Henry Adam
February 16, 2026 at 11:55 AM
"I have written too much history to have faith in it; and if anyone thinks I'm wrong, I am inclined to agree with him."
Henry Adam
Henry Adam
"As against having beautiful workshops, studios, etc., one writes best in a cellar on a rainy day."
Van Wyck Brooks, born on this day in 1886
Van Wyck Brooks, born on this day in 1886
February 16, 2026 at 11:37 AM
"As against having beautiful workshops, studios, etc., one writes best in a cellar on a rainy day."
Van Wyck Brooks, born on this day in 1886
Van Wyck Brooks, born on this day in 1886
"The thing about being a writer is that you never have to ask, 'Am I doing something that's worthwhile?' Because even if you fail at it, you know that it's worth doing."
Richard Ford, born on this day in 1944
Richard Ford, born on this day in 1944
February 16, 2026 at 11:28 AM
"The thing about being a writer is that you never have to ask, 'Am I doing something that's worthwhile?' Because even if you fail at it, you know that it's worth doing."
Richard Ford, born on this day in 1944
Richard Ford, born on this day in 1944
“I would rather starve and rot and keep the privilege of speaking the truth as I see it, than of holding all the offices that capital has to give from the presidency down.”
Henry Adams, born on this day in 1838
Henry Adams, born on this day in 1838
February 16, 2026 at 11:15 AM
“I would rather starve and rot and keep the privilege of speaking the truth as I see it, than of holding all the offices that capital has to give from the presidency down.”
Henry Adams, born on this day in 1838
Henry Adams, born on this day in 1838
“My God! Did I set all of this in motion?”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-...
The Enduring Legacy of Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur
In an 1887 letter to his wife, Susan, famed author Lew Wallace told her that he looked to her and his best-selling novel Ben-Hur: A Tale ...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:03 PM
“My God! Did I set all of this in motion?”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-...
“War happens to people, one by one. That is really all I have to say and it seems to me I have been saying it forever.”
Martha Gellhorn, who died on this day in 1998
Martha Gellhorn, who died on this day in 1998
February 15, 2026 at 2:44 PM
“War happens to people, one by one. That is really all I have to say and it seems to me I have been saying it forever.”
Martha Gellhorn, who died on this day in 1998
Martha Gellhorn, who died on this day in 1998
“I want to bury myself in a den of books. I want to saturate myself with the elements of which they are made and breathe their atmosphere until I am of it.”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-pl...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-pl...
"A Pleasure House for My Soul": Lew Wallace and His Study
The U.S. minister to the Ottoman Empire in 1885 found himself in a quandary. He had just prepared a telegram offering his resignation to Pre...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:27 PM
“I want to bury myself in a den of books. I want to saturate myself with the elements of which they are made and breathe their atmosphere until I am of it.”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-pl...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-pl...
“These men died to save the National Capital, and they did save it.”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/04/savi...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/04/savi...
Saving Washington: Lew Wallace and the Battle of Monocacy
Rebel Lieutenant General Jubal “Old Jube” Early found himself in an enviable position; he was just a few days’ march from what could be on...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 15, 2026 at 2:23 PM
“These men died to save the National Capital, and they did save it.”
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/04/savi...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/04/savi...
"This is my native state. I will not leave it to serve the South. Down the street yonder is the old cemetery where my father lies there going to dust. If I fight, I tell you, it shall be for his bones."
Lew Wallace, who died on this day in 1905
Lew Wallace, who died on this day in 1905
February 15, 2026 at 1:09 PM
"This is my native state. I will not leave it to serve the South. Down the street yonder is the old cemetery where my father lies there going to dust. If I fight, I tell you, it shall be for his bones."
Lew Wallace, who died on this day in 1905
Lew Wallace, who died on this day in 1905
“I set forth . . . thinking, ‘I’ve got a hell of a nerve, starting out single-handed, with nothing but my typewriter, to overthrow the political machine of the governor of Illinois.”
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-...
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-...
The Reporter and the Mine Disaster
The bodies began coming up from deep within the bowels of the earth days after the first explosion at the Centralia coal mine on March 2...
rayboomhower.blogspot.com
February 14, 2026 at 3:24 PM
“I set forth . . . thinking, ‘I’ve got a hell of a nerve, starting out single-handed, with nothing but my typewriter, to overthrow the political machine of the governor of Illinois.”
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-...
John Bartlow Martin
rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-...
"I am, really, a great writer; my only difficulty is in finding great readers."
Frank Harris, born on this day in 1856
Frank Harris, born on this day in 1856
February 14, 2026 at 11:41 AM
"I am, really, a great writer; my only difficulty is in finding great readers."
Frank Harris, born on this day in 1856
Frank Harris, born on this day in 1856
"The most poignantly personal autobiography of a biographer is the biography he has written of another man."
George Jean Nathan, born on this day in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1882
George Jean Nathan, born on this day in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1882
February 14, 2026 at 11:27 AM
"The most poignantly personal autobiography of a biographer is the biography he has written of another man."
George Jean Nathan, born on this day in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1882
George Jean Nathan, born on this day in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1882
“I thought it would be easy for me to write about the destruction of Dresden, since all I would have to do would be to report what I had seen."
Kurt Vonnegut
Dresden, Germany, bombed on this day in 1945
indianahistory.org/blog/kurt-vo...
Kurt Vonnegut
Dresden, Germany, bombed on this day in 1945
indianahistory.org/blog/kurt-vo...
February 13, 2026 at 6:45 PM
“I thought it would be easy for me to write about the destruction of Dresden, since all I would have to do would be to report what I had seen."
Kurt Vonnegut
Dresden, Germany, bombed on this day in 1945
indianahistory.org/blog/kurt-vo...
Kurt Vonnegut
Dresden, Germany, bombed on this day in 1945
indianahistory.org/blog/kurt-vo...