A Lifetime on a Deadline: Self-Portrait of a Southern Journalist

In this candid autobiography, George W. Healy, one of the South's, and the nation's, finest and most distinguished journalists, recalls the people and events that, during his career, left an indelible imprint on the history of the nation and the world. Healy, a Mississippi native, was a reporter who covered several major events of a turbulent time in history, a trusted friend of American presidents from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon, and an outspoken editor with solid views on what constituted a responsible press. His coverage of the Mississippi River flood of 1927 gained him nationwide recognition and caused Healy to make more contacts on a national level. The event was a launching pad for his journalistic career. George Healy served as editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune for thirty-six years, directing it and its staff to a position of unquestioned excellence. He also served in the inner circles of government. In 1943, in the midst of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt asked him to serve as director of the domestic branch of the Office of War Information. By resisting political pressures, Healy bridged the gap between the need for military censorship and the public�s right to know. George W. Healy was a precedent-setter throughout his career. His autobiography gives a unique and up-front look into his life and career, and an interesting time in our nation�s history. As Turner Catledge says in the book's foreword, "George Healy is a person of whom it can truly be said that he is a part of all he�s met."