Richards Vidmer
Julius Richards Vidmer was a notable American journalist and military officer, born on October 7, 1898, in Mobile, Alabama. He experienced a varied upbringing as the son of Brigadier General George Vidmer, living in multiple countries due to his father's military career. Vidmer initially pursued a military path by enlisting in the army air corps and training as a pilot, though he was sidelined by a serious training accident before World War I. Following his recovery, he transitioned into journalism, starting at the Washington Herald and later becoming a prominent sportswriter for the New York Morning Telegraph and the New York Herald Tribune.
Throughout his career, Vidmer was known for his engaging and often sensational writing style, covering a wide range of sports while maintaining a respectful approach to the athletes' personal lives. He served during World War II, achieving the rank of colonel, and upon returning to civilian life, he had several personal and professional changes, including multiple marriages and a move to Barbados, where he worked as a golf pro. Vidmer continued to influence the field of journalism until his retirement in the mid-1970s, ultimately passing away on July 23, 1978, in Kentucky. His life reflects a blend of military service, journalism, and personal reinvention, making him a unique figure in 20th-century American culture.
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Richards Vidmer
Writer
- Born: October 7, 1898
- Birthplace: Mobile, Alabama
- Died: July 23, 1978
- Place of death: Murray, Kentucky
Biography
Julius Richards Vidmer was born on October 7, 1898, in Mobile, Alabama, although many sources list his birthplace as Washington, D.C. His father was Brigadier General George Vidmer, an officer in the Spanish-American War who received the Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Service Medal for combat in World War I and later was superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point; his mother was Caroline Richards Vidmer. A military brat, Vidmer grew up in a variety of locations, including Japan, Cuba, the Philippines, Texas, and Washington, D.C. Because his father was attached to the United StatesCavalry, young Vidmer was raised around horses and became an avid polo player. While living in Texas, he played professional baseball under the alias Widmeyer to preserve his eligibility for college athletics.
In the family tradition, Vidmer, though accepted at West Point, enlisted in the army air corps and trained as a pilot before the United States entered World War I. He never saw action, however, because his aircraft collided with another plane during a training flight over Long Island, New York. Vidmer was seriously injured and spent a year undergoing surgery and rehabilitation.
After his recovery, Vidmer enrolled in George Washington University, where he was healthy enough to play football and baseball. He graduated in 1921 and was immediately hired as a general assignment reporter and feature writer at the Washington Herald. The next year, when he became sports editor at the Washington Daily News, Vidmer married Miriam Miller, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.
In 1924, Vidmer accepted a position as sportswriter at the New York Morning Telegraph, where he remained for five years and worked with such luminaries as Walter Winchell, Ring Lardner, and Ben Hecht. In 1929, he moved to the New York Herald Tribune, where he wrote about sports from 1929 until 1933; wrote a syndicated column, “Down in Front,” from 1933 until the early 1940’s; and served as foreign correspondent from the mid-1940’s until 1951. During World War II, Vidmer was commissioned as a major and served in intelligence in Washington, D.C. and as a fighter pilot with the Eighth Air Force, eventually leaving the military with the rank of colonel.
As a journalist, Vidmer was recognized for his ability to competently cover virtually any sport, for his brash, sensationalistic style, and for respecting the private lives of the athletes about whom he wrote. He did not, for example, reveal the excesses of Yankees’ star Babe Ruth, or the debilitating illness that curtailed Lou Gehrig’s career. Vidmer also was known as a hard-drinking playboy; he was the inspiration for speakeasy patron Toby McLean in Katherine Brush’s novel, Young Man of Manhattan (1930). Vidmer contributed a few short stories to such periodicals as Saturday Evening Post, but he did not write any books.
After World War II, Vidmer divorced and later married actress- singer Elizabeth “Princess Pearl” Brooke, daughter of Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, the last British rajah of Sarawak. In 1951, Vidmer left the Herald Tribune, moved with his wife to Barbados, and for a decade worked as a country club golf pro and course designer with golfer Bobby Jones. He divorced again and returned to the United States, where he was an editor for Dun and Bradstreet in New York for twelve years. He married his third wife, Mary Field, and retired in the mid-1970’s to Kentucky, where he died on July 23, 1978.
Jack Ewing