Gary Romeo wrote: > > --- "Am. Michael Matt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >someone who was > > largely isolated, home-bound, and dedicated to > > writing, not seem just a > > little bit absurd or even arrogant to you? > > I thought the prevailing view of Howard was that he > was well-read, well-versed in history, knowledgeable > in both local and world politics...
Well I think e can safely say he was very well read for his time and place, he was well versed in various histories based on his library, letters, and writings. We know he loved listening to political debates and election results on the radio. I would doubt that he knew local politics very well but it is debatable if he knew much about Texas overall except from the Sate Capitol musings. The radio and papers would fill him in of national politics well. As I said earlier, we have to consider exactly how much of this news he may have access to either way. We need someone who knows the history of reporting in newspapers and radio of that period who could put it in perspective. Of course, living in Dallas, you could just zip over to CP or Brownwood and romp through the papers of the era to see what was being reported. One thing about radio that we have to remember, is that unlike today, they didn't have call-in online discussions about issues and I believe that a lot of radio was music, stories and plays, with the rest news and some commentary, and wasn't 24 hours a day either. If anyone can give a better appraisal of typical radio of the time or point to web sites that describe it I'd be thankful. Scotty Henderson
