Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson (January 6, 1879 – May 26, 1946) was an American journalist and publisher, the grandson of publisher Joseph Medill, owner of the Chicago Tribune and a mayor of Chicago and older brother of fellow publisher Cissy Patterson. He was also the father of another publisher, Alicia Patterson, who founded and edited Newsday. His father was Robert W. Patterson Jr., the son of an influential Chicago minister who had risen to a position of prominence at the Tribune and married the owner's daughter.
During his career, he became one of the dominant newspaper publishers in the United States, rivaled primarily by William Randolph Hearst.
After his father died, Patterson took over the management of the Chicago Tribune, and after World War I ended, on June 26 1919, he founded the New York Daily News. He moved to New York, leaving the Tribune in the hands of his cousin and leaving his family behind.
One of his most lasting contributions is the personal hand he took in managing the various comic strip properties he ran in his papers. For instance, it was at his suggestion that the lead character of Gasoline Alley adopted a foundling child who became a central character in the strip. Another famous strip he influenced was Dick Tracy. His contributions included changing the preliminary title of Plainclothes Tracy to the current one and generally supporting its creator, Chester Gould, who insisted on a technical, grotesque and extremely violent style of storytelling. Also, according to cartoonist Milton Caniff, Patterson was responsible for the suggestion to Caniff that he do a comic strip about the orient, a suggestion that led to the creation of Caniff's strip, Terry and the Pirates. The event recounted in Time Magazine's profile of Caniff entitled "Escape Artist" (Monday, Jan. 13, 1947) was this:
- Patterson stalked out to her office, stared coldly at Caniff and asked: "Ever do anything on the Orient?" Caniff hadn't. "You know," Joe Patterson mused, "adventure can still happen out there. There could be a beautiful lady pirate, the kind men fall for. . . ." In a few days Caniff was back with samples and 50 proposed titles; Patterson circled "Terry" and scribbled beside it "and the Pirates."
Patterson is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Patterson was groomed from birth to follow in the footsteps of his famous grandfather. His mother, Nellie, and his aunt, Kate, both named their firstborn sons after their famous father, aware of the importance of creating a family dynasty. When he was older, he asked his father if he could go to China to cover the Boxer Rebellion. Granted permission, he went as a correspondent for William Randolph Hearst but did not arrive in time. After graduation from Yale, he went to work at the Chicago Tribune on the police beat. Later, after wanting a son and having three girls, he adopted one as his surrogate son, Alicia. In 1923, his only son, James Joseph Patterson, was born in England. James later became vice president and assistant managing editor of the New York Daily News.
One of his grandsons, Joseph Medill Patterson Albright, was married for about 23 years to Madeleine Albright.
External links
- The Nickelodeons, an article written by Patterson and published in the November 23, 1907 issue of the Saturday Evening Post
- France, written by Patterson, from Great Poems of the World War, published in 1922
- Photos of his grave in Arlington National Cemetery
- Obituary of his son, James J. Patterson in The New York Times
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