The Leading Journalist of the Jazz Age

Terry Teachout. The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken. New York, Harper-Collins, 2002.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) is not a name familiar to most Americans today. If they know of him at all, most know him only as the model for the character of the cynical reporter in the play and movie Inherit the Wind. Nevertheless, there was a time when Mencken was one of Americas most influential news reporters, editorialists, and cultural critics -- "the leading journalist of the Jazz Age." He began his professional career as the "boy wonder" journalist for Baltimore