|
Eugene Hilburn "Gene" Methvin (September 19, 1934 – January 19, 2012) was an American pilot, journalist, and senior editor for the ''Reader's Digest'' Washington, D.C., bureau. A self-described "shoe leather reporter," Methvin contributed more than 100 articles to ''Reader's Digest'' and its 48 editions, reaching more than 100 million readers worldwide. His articles covered topics ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court, civil liberties and constitutional law, to U.S. defense posture, Kremlin politics, U.S.-Soviet relations, organized crime and international terrorist groups. An article by Methvin in the January 1965 ''Reader's Digest'', "How the Reds Make a Riot," won the magazine the coveted award for public service in magazine journalism given annually by the Society for Professional Journalists. Methvin's work on communism, crime and corruption earned him not only the respect of his peers, but influence in government. His articles in ''Reader's Digest'' helped rally necessary support for legislation that would go on to become law and, in 1983, he was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the President's Commission on Organized Crime. Methvin supervised the commission's investigation and hearing on labor-management racketeering. Marvin Wolfgang, past president and fellow of the American Society of Criminology, wrote of Methvin, "No journalist or reporter knows more about criminology."〔 Along with his work with ''Reader's Digest'', Methvin also authored two books: ''The Riot Makers: The Technology of Social Demolition'', 1970, and ''The Rise of Radicalism: The Social Psychology of Messianic Extremism'', 1973. In 1995, the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists named Methvin to its "Hall of Fame" for "exemplary professional achievements, outstanding service to other members of the profession and lifelong dedication to the highest standards of journalism." ==Early life== Methvin was born in Vienna, Georgia to Claude M. Methvin, Jr. and Madge Hilburn Methvin, editors and publishers of a local paper, ''The Vienna News''. Methvin began his journalism education by sleeping on a bale of newsprint every Thursday night while his parents met the weekly deadline. At the age of four, he got into a bucket of ink behind the family's flatbed cylinder press, and not even a gasoline bath could get all the printer's ink out of him. He started as a reporter (leg man only) before he could write, for at the age of five he would wander around the streets of his home town with pad and pencil asking residents to write down their news for him. Vienna, with a population of 2000, was a two-newspaper town in those days, chiefly as a result of his father's differences with a number of courthouse officials over a lynching, expressed in front-page editorials. Once while covering his beat, young Methvin encountered an assembly of grownups in one store gathered around the cracker barrel, and they offered a number of humorous quotes about the alleged superiorities of the opposition newspaper. Reporter Methvin promptly provided editorial comment: "Y'all are just a bunch of old damn fools," he declared. Whereupon he looked up and saw the town's Baptist preacher standing in the circle, so he quickly amended his copy: "All 'cep you, 'cause you work in the church-house," he said. Which, the preacher later declared from the pulpit, proved the youngster would make a good editor "because he knows who to call a damn fool and who to let alone." Growing up in Vienna in the 1930s and 1940s had a major impact on Methvin’s work throughout his life. Methvin’s parents published The Vienna News, known for its opposition to Jim Crow laws. Methvin’s parents received death threats from Ku Klux Klan members for their views. In his later years he would recall that, "as a young man I considered myself a liberal, because I was against lynching. When I got to Washington, to my surprise, I learned I was a conservative." Methvin studied journalism at the University of Georgia School of Journalism. On campus he served as a member of the debate team and was a four-year letterman on UGA's football team under legendary coach, Wallace Butts. He belonged to Sigma Nu fraternity, and the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, which named him the outstanding male graduate of 1955. He was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and worked briefly as a reporter on the Atlanta Constitution. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree, cum laude, with a supplementary major and postgraduate study in law at the University of Georgia School of Law.〔 As a journalism student, Methvin admired the works of H.L. Menken, doing a class project on Menken's ''The American Mercury'' After college, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Methvin would spend three years as a jet fighter pilot flying the F-86 and F-102 all-weather interceptors. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gene Methvin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|