John Gunther

John Gunther (August 30, 1901 – May 29, 1970) was an American journalist and author whose success came primarily through a series of popular sociopolitical works known as the "Inside" books (1936–1972), including the best-selling Inside U.S.A. in 1947. He is best known today for the memoir Death Be Not Proud about the death of his teenage son, Johnny Gunther, from a brain tumor.

Personal life

Gunther was born in the Lakeview district of Chicago, growing up on the North Side of the city. He was the first child of a family of German descent. His father was Eugene Guenther, a traveling salesman and his mother was Lizette Schoeninger Guenther. During World War I the family changed the spelling of its name from Guenther to Gunther in order to avoid having a German-sounding name.

In 1922, he was awarded a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the University of Chicago, where he was literary editor of the student paper.

He worked briefly in the city as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News, but soon moved to Europe to be a correspondent with the Daily News's London Bureau, where he covered Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East.