James Jackson Montague (April 16, 1873 – December 16, 1941) 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."James Montague, Versifier, Is Dead", The New York Times, December 17, 1941
Montague's journalism career began in 1896 at The Oregonian, where he started as a copy boy. He was soon promoted to reporter and eventually took over the column "Slings and Arrows".James J. Montague, collected papers, Ithaca, New York 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."" 'Jimmy' Montague, Aladdin of the Newspaper Poets," New York World, June 15, 1919 Later in Montague's career, his whimsical pieces were often carried by the Bell Syndicate.
Early life
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 his sisters Carrie and Jane.Richard C. Montague, correspondence, August 12, 2011
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"
Montague first worked at lumber mill and later a fish-freezing plant. When he heard there was an opening for an office boy at the Portland Oregonian, he was sufficiently interested in becoming a journalist that he offered to initially work without pay. In 1896, at age 23, he was hired as a "cub" reporter at a salary of $10 a week. Soon after, the writer of an Oregonian column titled "Slings and Arrows" died, and Montague was offered the opportunity to take it over. His version of the column, which often included comic verse, was considered "an immediate success."
In 1898, at age 25, Montague married Helen L. Hageny of Portland, Oregon. Their first child, Richard, was born in 1900. Two years later Montague's writing attracted the attention of publisher William Randolph Hearst through New York Evening Journal cartoonist Homer Davenport, who had worked at the Oregonian before moving to New York in 1895. Through an agent, Hearst offered Montague a position in New York City but he declined, preferring to remain in Portland. Hearst was insistent, however, and the writer named what he thought was a prohibitive price, $60 a week — double his salary at the time — and was "flabbergasted" when it was accepted.
New York
In 1902, Montague, his wife, and son moved to New York, where he began work for Hearst. His daughter Doris, born that year, stayed behind with Montague's mother, who later followed. Initially, the family lived in a Manhattan boardinghouse, then moved to number of rented houses in New RochelleMemory Street, p. 24 where their second son, James Lee Montague, was born. They finally built their own house at 204 Drake Avenue, moving in around 1904.Richard C. Montague, interview, January 13, 2012
In New York, Montague's work appeared in both the New York American and New York Evening Journal. He produced a poetry column six times a week, in addition to writing a wide range of articles on politics, books, and theater. During his working life, he compiled many binders of his work, of which six from the 1900s survive. Of these, the vast majority are his poetry column.
The New York Times referred to Montague as a "twentieth-century bard," while W.O. McGeehan, then editor of the New York Herald Tribune, said he "took the passing laughter of the day and sent it singing through a typewriter to the presses so that millions could catch its rhythm and understand." To Montague's dislike, his work was occasionally confused with that of Edgar Guest or James Whitcomb Riley, both of whom were also popular during the same period.
While Montague was best known as the writer of "More Truth than Poetry," he also served as an editor at the Hearst papers when required. One of his tasks was completing an "autobiography" of Buffalo Bill Cody, The Great West That Was: "Buffalo Bill's" Life Story, which was serialized in Hearst's International Magazine from August 1916 to July 1917.The Lives and Legends of Buffalo Bill Don Russell, University of Oklahoma Press, 1979, p. 276 During the time Montague was working on the manuscript, Cody was a frequent visitor to the writer's New Rochelle home, "usually just in time for lunch or dinner."Memory Street, p. 117 This friendliness ended when an installment of the autobiography characterized Wild Bill Hickok as a "bandit," something Cody hadn't approved of and didn't appreciate. As Montague's son Richard wrote in his memoir:
"Father claimed that [Cody had] re-armed himself with his old six guns and was stalking our sire with intent to kill. For several weeks after that we kids lived in delicious dread half-believing that father was in deadly danger. When we went out on a walk with him he'd send us on ahead to look around corners and behind trees to see if Bill Cody was waiting in ambush. The fact that he wasn't only made it more likely that he would be there next time. But he never was."Memory Street, p. 118
By this time the circulation wars between the Hearst and Pulitzer papers were past their "yellow journalism" zenith of the late 1800s, but the two continued to battle for market share and talent. Montague had originally been recruited by Hearst in 1902, and now The World came calling. On June 15, 1919, the paper announced that Montague would join them, bringing with him his poetry column. In the article, Montague was referred to as the "Aladdin of the Newspaper Poets" and a "successor to James Whitcomb Riley," a characterization he may not have appreciated. While compensation may have played a role in the move, according to his son, more personal factors were also involved:
"[Montague] had had enough of Hearst. In quitting, he said, he felt he had taken a Turkish bath and got clean again. He admired the publisher's brilliance, capricious generosity and many worthy activities, but he didn't like his persistent distortion of the news and lack of principles. 'He could have been a great man,' father told me once. 'The only thing he lacked was character.' "
Hearst never forgave Montague for moving to the World, yet continued to try to persuade him to return. Years later the publisher met him in the street and asked when he would come back. "Never," Montague said. "Yes, you will," Hearst replied. "Hunger will drive you back." The year after Montague left Hearst, a collection of "More Truth than Poetry" columns was published by the George H. Doran Company. The book ran 160 pages with a preface by Irvin S. Cobb, and included classic poems such as "The Sleepytown Express", "The Ouija Board" and "The Vamp Passes."
Later in Montague's career, he joined the Bell Syndicate, working out of the editorial room of the New York Herald Tribune. The syndicate distributed both Montague's poems and light fiction pieces, all under his own copyright. One example is "No Appreciation for This Bard," about an out-of-work press agent, which was published in The Washington Post of January 27, 1924. According to The New York Times, Montague wrote six poetry columns a week for nearly 25 years; at this rate, he produced more than 7,500 examples of "More Truth Than Poetry" over his career.
Politics
In addition to writing "More Truth Than Poetry," Montague was keenly interested in the politics of his day. He covered New York City and New York State events for many years, including the 1913 impeachment trial of Governor William Sulzer "Glynn and Sulzer Claim to Be Chief" James J. Montague, Evening Independent, August 22, 1913, p. 5. Accessed January 14, 2012 and the 1915 libel case between Albany Times-Union owner and publisher William Barnes Jr., and former President Theodore Roosevelt."Barnes-Roosevelt Verdict This Week" New York Times, May 16, 1915. Accessed January 14, 2012"Theodore Roosevelt and the Barnes Libel Case: A Reappraisal" John Robert Greene, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Winter 1989. Accessed January 14, 2012 Because Montague worked for Hearst, who had no liking of Roosevelt, he had to exercise caution when covering the trial. In Eugene Thwing's 1919 book The Life and Meaning of Theodore Roosevelt, the author wrote:
"At the Barnes-Roosevelt libel trial in Syracuse I came across James J. Montague, a hardened reporter on a highly anti-Roosevelt newspaper, walking up and down and cursing. I asked him what moved him to these expletives. 'Roosevelt, damn him,' said Montague; 'I can't keep hating him if I get anywhere within twenty feet of him, and I'm always accidentally doing it. He's spoiling my story.' "The Life and Meaning of Theodore Roosevelt, Current Literature Publishing Company, 1919, p. 311
Working for Hearst's publications and wire service, Montague covered the national political conventions of 1912 and 1916. Despite his reputation as a "hardened reporter," Montague had friends in all the political parties of his day — Democratic, Republican, Bull Moose, Socialist and Farmer Labor. "Although Hearst's editorials bitterly denounced most of the principals in these organizations from time to time, the victims never held it against [Montague]."
After World War I, Montague served as an international correspondent for the Hearst publications when required. In 1918 he covered the armistice with Germany and the following year he attended the Paris Peace Conference. In his first cable, dated January 17, 1919, Montague signaled that the authorities appeared ready to exclude all newspaper representatives from the conference. "America has come here seeking nothing but an open agreement," Montague wrote. "If she is to persuaded to play the European game of secret and underground bickering she is certain to lose not only her initial advantage but all her objectives."
Other, less serious events at the conference also contributed to the legend of his having been the "star" of the press corps:
"[After the conference] a group of American correspondents, including Mr. Montague, shared a luxurious dinner, featured by a tremendous turkey. About to leave for England, Mr. Montague remarked that since it might be a long time before they had another such meal it might be worth while taking the remains of the turkey along. But when they arrived they were rushed to Buckingham Palace and the man with the turkey in the shoebox still had it under his arm. Over the protests of an equerry, he — Montague — is alleged to have still carried the box when presented to His Majesty George V.