Westbrook Pegler
"I claim authority to speak for the rabble because I am a member of the rabble in good standing".

Westbrook Pegler, "The Lynching Story"


"Mr. Pegler [is a] deplorable ... enemy of civilization".

Irwin Edman, "The Pegler Phenomenom"


James Westbrook Pegler (1894 - 1969) was a talented and controversial newspaper columnist who wrote from the 1910s through the 1960s, with his greatest influence in the 1930s and 1940s.

Westbrook Pegler

     Westbrook Pegler


About Westbrook Pegler:

An Introduction to Peglerology by John Finneran. Some comments from the creator of this website, January, 2001.

The Pegler Phenomenom by Irwin Edman. A hostile review of George Spelvin, American and Fireside Chats. From the Saturday Review of Literature, September 26, 1942.

Articles by Westbrook Pegler:

From 'T Ain't Right (1936):

The Lynching Story: Pegler defends the lynching of two men who had kidnapped and murdered another man in California. One of his most controversial early columns.

Killers: Peg meditates on why nations reserve their highest opinions for their soldiers, who are killers by profession.

Suffer Little Children: The fate of the Jewish children in Nazi Germany.

From George Spelvin, American and Fireside Chats (1942):

Radicalism and Hygiene: Peg on avante-garde artists' and writers' aversion to soap.

I Just Wanted You to Know: Peg on poetry, includes the mock epic poem, "Night Over Yugoslavia".

Mrs. Spelvin Speaks Her Mind: Mrs. S. (with some assistance from Mr. S.) takes on a shrill lady columnist and an eminent Austrain doktor in a panel discussion on the radio. The inspiration for The McLaughlin Group?

The Spelvins Meet the Unions: Can it be true? George Spelvin, American, a dirty fink, scab, rat, bum?

The Evolution of the Liberal: Peg on how Liberals opposed goose-stepping on behalf of the Kaiser, but now support it on behalf of unions.

Articles by Westbrook Pegler on Other Websites:

Mrs. Roosevelt's Private Life: Pegler calls on Eleanor Roosevelt to retire from public life. Article from February 12, 1942. (On the PBS website.)

Are Wrestlers People?: Peg on wrestling. Article from January, 1934. (On The Wrestling Channel website.)

Nobody's Business: Peg on the 1892 fight between John L. Sullivan and "Gentleman" Jim Corbett. From March 1, 1931. (On a personal page on Tripod.)

Links


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This site created and maintained by John Finneran, e-mail: John.Finneran (at symbol) pileofshirts.com.

Created January 3, 2001.