FLORIDA STAT6 URIVERSITY THE LIFE A1iD ORKS OF ERNEST TAYLOR (ERNIE) PYLE BT MAYO ORAlE A PaJl4lr Subaitted to the Graduat. Council ot lorida Stat. Uniyer.it:r in partial tuUUlment or the requir....nt. tor the decr•• ot ~a.t.r or Scienee. Apprond '=--=-==--,~_~,-,-:,- _ Prot•••or Dlrect1na Paper ::. e>-.o < • Februar:r, 19~7 Dean ot the Graduate School •• UBLE OF COITi>JlT5 Pag. INTRODUCTIOIl • •• • • •• • • • • • • • • • •• • •• 1 Chapter I. LU. or Ern.st TS1lor (Erni.) Pyla •• • •• • It II. Th. Works or Ern.st Taylor (ltrnla) Pyl•• • • • 21 ERNIE PILEI All EVALlJ Tro. • •• • • • • • • • • • • 30 BIBLIJORAPHI . • • •• • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • 32 11 rNTRODUCTI ON Durine World War II newspaparmen found many ot their asalgn:nentl centered on the "fighting tronte" at the various c.~palgn.. Among this group vas Ernie Pyle, who beca•• especIally veIl-known, closely followed, and warmly .~r.d tor his accounts of army lite. Through hil graphic reporting Pyle endeared hlmselt to civilians at home whose relatives and friends vere at these outposts, and to military peraomwl abroad who telt that Pyle vas telling their story and vas vr1tlo1 for them, •• they could not, their letters home. On. or the•• soldiers, this writer, beoame intere.ted in the writings at Pyle, whila serving in the Aliatic-Pacitic Theater during World War II. In tact, the writer vas a m.~b8r ot the 77th Infantry Division, vhich rnie Pyle was visiting when he VaS killed. Beeau•• of this Interest the writer, in hil ••arch for a topic tor a ~ast.rfs paper that would fOlter bibliographic competency, thought worthwhile a consideration or the lif. and works of Ernie Pyle. Such a stUdy vas be­ lieved to be ot possible value to librarians and Itudents .1 veIl as a practical exercise ~n biblIography and library re­ search for a prospective librarian. The procedurl tolloved In the writing of thil paper haa been to read am analyze all of the available material I 2 cooc.rnlni the 11t. or Pyl. and bl. vork.. T001l th.t v.r. u!er~l 1n co.piling the material wer. Book Slvlev ptc,st,l CU?Blatly. 899! Iqd!I,2 t,l.Y and Q.neral Llterature Ind••,3 .nd B,ad,r, Ould! to P,r10dlcal L1t,r.tur••~ ••1.v. at bt. wrlt1n,. v... trac.d tar~U&h Boo! .ylt. PII.lt .nd the orlclnal reviews vera exam1Ded when possible. Chapt.r I ilv•• a b10iraph1cal aketch or Ern1. Pyle. The b10lraphlcal lntormat1on need 1n pr.parat10n ot thl. pap.r va. obta1ned aainly (r03 Lae 111.r'. Ihe Storr at Ernl! Prl••' Suppl.,..t1na th1., the blolr.ph1cal .katch" vblch app.ar ln Il.. .,a'1o!6 and !V!ntl!th C,qturr Author.7 have b••n uled. AllO or aoa. valul, blcaual at ita caaprea­ alon. though glvin, no additional ~aterl.1t wa. the conden­ .atlon ot K111.r'. The Story ot rnl. PY11 II ,1.on 1n the .•a4er" D c,at.8 l~Oi ~1'Y O1I"i, 1941-1947 (Nev York, H. W. ~11.on. 1 2-1 l . • 11.on, ~~~t~~j! Book Igd.x, 1941-1947 (N.w York, H. W. 3~ ••aY and q.oeral LIt.raiurl Lnd.x. 1941-1947 (N.v 10rk. R.'••1110n, 1948). ~~Iad.r" ~yld. to ~r~od~~,l Lli,raturl, 1941-19~7 (N.w York. H••• v1110n. 1 1-1 7. 'La. C. liller, In. Storr or Ernt. Pyl' (Naw York. Tb. VtkInl Pr•••• 1950). 6·&rn1e Pyl.'s ~ar," 11... July 17, l~, pp. 62-72. 7·tL~1.y J. ~un1tz and Vin.ta Colby (ed•• ), Tv,ntI.tb ~~~~Y Ayih0rJ, Flrat Supple.ant (N.v York. H.~••11.on, 8-Th• Story at Ern1. Vyle- (.xc.rpt. trot IhI Siorr 9t irnil Pr~1 by Lea C. KIller), ne.g.rl r11"t, LVIII (Janu­ ary, 1951), 1~5-180. 3 Chapter II 11 concerned with Pyle', workl, which are presented In the ,.quene. ot their publication. Each book 11 rollowed by som. co~nt trom the mOlt significant reyi.ws al 11v.n by tne Book Review D1gest, • die.,t and ind.x ot .elected revi.ws from some .eventy Dilllh-lafilUAl' periodi­ call. no att. pt hal be.n ..de to includ. PrI.'s n.vspar.r pl.ces or ~g.zln. articl••• Following Chaptor II, is 0 comploto bibliography or .11 sourc.s us.d in the writing at tht. paper. Included 1n thi. bibliocraphy i. a li.tIne or tho book. wrItten by rnio Pylo with a compilatIon or tho .ourco. or ro.iowa. CflAPTKR I LIFE OF KRNEST TAYLOR (ERnIE) PYLS Erne.t Taylor Pyle was born in tho plea.ant town of Dana, Indi.na, on AUllU.t 3, 1900, tho only child of I~arie and Will Pyle. Ernie'. lIother n...ed h1:l [rna. t Taylor Pyl./ Taylor, after her maiden name and, Em.lt, beeanae she liked the lound of the name. And \',rnest he alvays vas to his -.other and rathel', never Ernie, not even attar Eml. Pyle had beeo.. a ramoul naM. According to Le. G. lillor's StorY of )'n1. PYl"l Ernio'. boyhood wa' not unlike that of thousand. of Indiana tar. boy.! he Uk.d .tori•• and loud to have h13 IDthor and Aunt Mary re.d to hi.. Marie, hi, mother, vas More artieu­ t late than Will, his rather, and more senattive to Ern••t • moods, vblch then, .a later, ranC8d trom exuberance to moodi­ n.... She had no intent10n of .poiling her child 3u.t be­ cause he va. her onl,. child, aDd her tenderne•• vas without ••ntillent.Uty toward hill. Sho had • roady lauch, but her tongue and punl.hllent could be quite ••vttre. Mrs. Pyle" ~unlshment. vere so ,.vere in ract that thirty years after­ ward. Ernie reoalled 80 vtvidly tva time. that hi_ mother IMiller, op. cit., P' 5. 4 5 vhlpped hlm that he vrote ot It.2 During the year. Ernest Pyle vas erov1ng up ~. vas known, not as "Ernie" but a9 "Shag." Ernie'. golden-red hair Va. alloved to grov untll he va' threa or tour and Wlll Bale., • aan who lived down the road, lave h1nl th8 name flShag" 3 to describe hi. appearanee, and "Shag" it val tor years. A_ "Shag," he vent to Sunday school regularly, at the little Methodist Church where he had been baptizec.1. As "Shal" he vent tiahinc and umudcrav11na:" in the tinT 11arlckll that ran through the pasture haIr a mlle or so trom tha Pyl.'. hom•• In 1906 Erni. entered sohool at Dana. He t.lt sutto­ oatingly s.lt-conscious amone tho town-boys ot Dana but l.s. self-conscious the following year when he va' able to attend the Dew consolidated lenool. Hi, school d." vere similar to the .ohool days ot tho a.,.rage boy, and 11ke mo.t ....n boy. he had a b.st rri",d, thad Hooker. "We tlvught the vorld would end if ve didn't see each athlr eyery daY,"~ Erni_ wrote later. Again lIke mOlt small boys, Ernie vas a1vays ready for • prank and it there were any repereu.siona hi8 air ot trail innocence ~ually turned suspioion avar. Because ot his alight physique, hoveYer, he did not participate in .~ort•• Ernie vas a lood student. Hil oyer-all a.eraae in the eighth grade vas 90.9.~ H. did aore however than study. H. 2Ibid•• p. 6. 3.lJl!g,•• p• 7. ..l.l!M. , p. 8. 5.lJl!g,• 6 took part in various achool activlti•• and halped at homa on tha fa~. De.pita hi••i.o ha ploved tha .oil behind thraa horaaa, huntad rabbit. vith hi. constant companlon, a dog, hap; d laarnad to drive a car. About thb ti_, ha and Thad l.arned to • oke, aecretively. roie, upon carelessly leanina bi. corn cob pipe on a window sIll, va. discovered by hi. ther, who remarked, "I see you're smoking DQV_"6 That vas all that va' avar .aid about it. Tbe even tesper or tne school daya v•• shattered when a yaar befora Ernla'a graduation tha Dnited Stataa doclarad "ar on aorlll&l1y. Ernia vantad badly to gat into tho var, partlcularly oftor hi. bo.t friand, Thad, had latt tor tha arlJ:T. At t'le CODD811Cellent ex.rel••• '-there was an empty tlAl-drapad chair on tho .taga tor hi.. I could hardly baar to CO to co.-nc...nt, I va••0 a:Jbalied 1 v••nlt 1n t'- artG7, too,"? Erni. val heard to lay. Hl. parents, how.ver, in­ .1atad that ha graduato, but lamodlatoly attar graduation ha went to PeorIa, rilino!a, where he enrolled 1n the naval re­ serve. AI a reservist, he va. lent to the University ot Illinola at Cba~palgn tor proliainsry training and va. about to 1II0Ye on to the Gr.at Lake. Haval Traln1nc Station when the ar l.tle. val .laned. It could ba .aid that it va. a graan and dittidant youth vho In 1919 .aid good-by to tha t.r. and vant to 7 Bloo~ington to enroll at Indiana Univeraity. Time. had ehanced Iinee Ernie', tather's boyhood. when an eight grade education v •• above a••rage for a country boy- Ernie had little idee what he should study at the University; he did not realize that even then he vas an undeveloped letter writer. The one thing that he did realize Wal that he wanted to get away trom farming. ~rnl.'8 tlrat year at co11eC8 vas uneventful and without di.tinction.