Ralph G. Martin
Ralph G. Martin was a notable journalist and biographer born in Chicago in 1920. He graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and began his career as the managing editor of the Box Elder News Journal in Utah. His reporting skills were honed during World War II, where he served as a war correspondent for the army's magazines, Stars and Stripes and Yank. After the war, Martin transitioned to editorial roles at prominent publications such as The New Republic, Newsweek, and House Beautiful, while also establishing himself as a biographer. He is perhaps best known for his acclaimed two-volume biography of Jennie Churchill, which is regarded as the definitive account of Winston Churchill's mother. Over his career, he authored works on various historical figures, including John F. Kennedy, the Roosevelts, and Helen Keller, and he was recognized for his thorough research and engaging narrative style. Martin's literary contributions extended to articles in well-known magazines and several historical works, with his conventional history of World War II, The GI War, being a personal favorite. He passed away in 1997, having recently completed a novel and a play, and was in the process of writing his memoirs.
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Subject Terms
Ralph G. Martin
Nonfiction Writer and Biographer
- Born: March 4, 1920
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: 1997
Biography
Journalist and biographer Ralph G.Martin was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1920. He received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1941, and after graduation became the managing editor of the Box Elder News Journal in Brigham, Utah. He left Utah in 1941 to serve as a war correspondent for the army’s weekly magazine Stars and Stripes and Yank, covering assignments in Europe and the Mediterranean. In 1944, he married Marjorie Jean Pastel, with whom he had three children.
After World War II, Martin worked as an associate editor of The New Republic in New York for three years, supplementing his income and reputation by writing freelance articles for magazines between 1945 and 1953. He held associate editor positions at Newsweek and House Beautiful in the late 1950’s.
In the late 1940’s, Martin began writing books in addition to his editorial work. His first published book was a biography, Boy from Nebraska: The Story of Ben Kuroki (1946), the story of a Japanese American war hero. Martin is best known for his best-selling two-volume biography of Winston Churchill’s mother, Jennie: The Life of Lady Randolph Churchill (1969, 1971). The work has been translated into numerous languages and is considered the definitive work on its subject.
Martin also wrote or cowrote books about President John F. Kennedy and his family, Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meir, Henry and Clare Boothe Luce, Helen Keller, Harry S. Truman, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Charles de Gaulle, among others. He also was the author of two photographic histories and one conventional history of World War II. Martin considered the conventional history, The GI War, 1941-1945 (1967), which focused on the role of soldiers in the conflict, to be his favorite among all of the books he had written.
In addition to his biographies, Martin wrote articles for magazines, including Harper’s Magazine, Look, and McCall’s, and he contributed to several anthologies. Critics favorably commented on the quality of his research, praising his ability to select and include correspondence that not only furthered the narrative arc of his stories but also illuminated key aspects of his subjects’ personalities and characters. He received the Achievement in Literature Award from the Westport Arts Society of Westport, Connecticut.
Martin died at his home in Connecticut in 1997. At the time of his death, he had recently completed a novel and a play and was working on his memoirs.