James J. Montague
| James Jackson Montague | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
April 16, 1873 Mason City, Iowa |
| Status | Married |
| Died | December 16, 1941 (aged 68) Belmont, Massachusetts |
| Other names | Jimmy Montague |
| Occupation | Journalist, satirist, critic, poet |
| Notable credit(s) | Portland Oregonian, New York American, New York Evening Journal, New York World, New York Herald, New York Herald Tribune, American Journal-Examiner, Cosmopolitan, Life |
| Spouse(s) | Helen L. Hageny |
| Children | Richard Hageny Montague, James Lee Montague, Doris Montague |
| Family |
John Vose Wood Montague Mother |
John Vose Wood Montague
Father
James Jackson Montague (April 16, 1873 – December 16, 1941), often referred to as "Jim" or "Jimmy" Montague, was an American journalist, satirist, and poet. Renowned as a "versifier," Montague is best known for his column "More Truth Than Poetry," which was published in a wide number of newspapers for nearly 25 years.
Montague's journalism career began in 1896 at the Portland Oregonian, where he started as a copy boy. He was soon promoted to reporter and eventually took over the column "Slings and Arrows." In 1902 he was hired by William Randolph Hearst to work at the New York American and New York Evening Journal, where he debuted "More Truth Than Poetry." Montague wrote the column six days a week, in addition to articles on topics such as politics, theater and sports. In 1919 he moved to the New York World, which described him as "the most widely circulated poet in the United States." Later in Montague's career, his whimsical pieces were often carried by the Bell Syndicate.
James Jackson Montague was born in Mason City, Iowa on April 16, 1873, the sixth child and third son of John Vose Wood Montague and Martha Washington Jackson. The couple lost their first daughter and son in early childhood; four children survived, including James, his brother Richard, and daughters Carrie and Jane.
In Mason City the father worked as a cashier of the First National Bank until it began to lose money in the recession of 1887. The family then moved to Portland, Oregon, where the father went into the insurance business. James J. Montague entered high school there, finishing in two years so he could go to work to help support the family. Consequently he never attended university, but he made up for his lack of formal education through a love of literature. In the memoir Memory Street, his son Richard wrote: "He was an omnivorous reader, especially of the works of Shakespeare, Conrad, Mark Twain, O. Henry, Shelley, Keats, Coleridge, Byron [and] Burns"
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