Reynolds and the University of Western Ontario
I ran across Reynolds when I was reading about Ernie Pyle, about whom I just posted. Like Pyle he was, for a portion of his career, a war correspondent and they both reported from London during the Blitz. Pyle went on to win a Pulitzer and was awarded honorary degrees from Indiana University and the University of New Mexico before he was killed in the war. Reynolds continued on as a writer and he also was awarded an honorary degree - from the University of Western Ontario.
An account of the conferral is provided below and within it there is an indication that the choice of Reynolds was controversial. The writer of the account (President Fox of Western) thinks that the citizens of Western Ontario were misguided in their opinion of Reynolds and suggests that some members of the UWO Senate were equally ill-informed.
I have no idea what would have been controversial about the choice of Reynolds to be honored by Western. At the end of the excerpt below it appears that the residents of St. Thomas, at least, were enthusiastic when Reynolds arrived there and President Fox was obviously impressed. University records and publications probably provide some answers, but they are not readily accessible, nor are the local newspapers from that time. I did find one article in the Globe and Mail, but there is no hint of any controversy. You are welcome to dig deeper.
Twice there are mentions below of a trial involving Quentin Reynolds and Westbrook Pegler, but it was the latter who was more controversial. More information is provided.
About a decade after the degree was granted, Mr. Reynolds was involved in a Canadian Hoax, but even that does not reflect negatively upon him. The details are provided after the Western story.
Here it is:
At the autumn convocation, November 26, 1943, the University conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws upon the famous United States war correspondent, Quentin Reynolds. The action had been preceded by considerable adverse criticism from citizens of Western Ontario -- an attitude that was not in accord with the high acclaim given to Quentin Reynolds in Britain, from such men as Winston Churchill and from high ranking naval officers as well as from the British public in general. Reynolds’ fearless reporting of the famous Dieppe raid and other war activities of the Allies was counted as tightening the bonds of understanding amongst the Allies and especially between Britain and the United States. Reynolds’ whole record confirms the soundness of that judgement. It was doubly confirmed by the evidence that was brought out in the famous suit for libel and slander instituted in 1949 against Westbrook Pegler and the Hearst Syndicate.
Now it will be interesting for the alumni and students of Western to know how the nomination of Quentin Reynolds for the Doctoral honour came about. Usually such nominations originate in the University Senate. In this case, however, it was the chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr. Arthur Little, who made the suggestion that Reynolds’ name be laid before the Senate. When I had succeeded in getting the Committee on Honorary Degrees to endorse Mr. Little’s suggestion, I found the same ignorance prevailing in the Senate as among the general public of Western Ontario. Thus I had considerable difficulty in persuading the Senate to permit the Secretary of the Senate, the Registrar of the University, to offer Quentin the degree.
After several days, we received a letter of acceptance from Reynolds who asked that he be met at the Michigan Central Station in St. Thomas at a certain hour. There the Chairman of the Board and myself met him. Pending the day of his arrival (November 26, 1943) we had been deluged by requests by the people of St. Thomas to be given the opportunity to have their copies of Reynolds’ books autographed by him. So large did this company become that the gathering for the autographs was arranged for, together with a luncheon, to take place at the Air Force Station several miles south of St. Thomas (now the Ontario hospital). The proceedings were made as concise as possible. Reynolds spoke briefly about his experience at Dieppe and then the autographing fest began.
In the evening the Convocation ceremony was held in the auditorium of the H.B. Beal Technical School. It was honoured by the presence of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, my old friend Mr. Albert Matthews, whose aide-de-camp for the occasion was his own son, General Bruce Matthews.
May I close by adding that during the several hours I had in London and St. Thomas in 1943 with Quentin Reynolds, I found him the same friendly, generous spirit that was brought out in the trial of his famous suit in 1954.
(from: Sherwood Fox of Western. Chapter XIX, “The War Years and After,” pp. 211-213).
Quentin Reynolds vs Westbrook Pegler
Reynolds sued Pegler for libel and won, BIG. The $175,000 awarded was the largest libel judgement up to that time. See: "Quentin Reynolds Wins Libel Action: Court Awards $175,001 in Suit Against Pegler and Two Hearst Concerns," New York Times, June 29, 1954. The Supreme Court refused to review the case: "High Court Declines Pegler Trial Review," New York Times, Oct. 11, 1955. Louis Nizer defended Reynolds and wrote about the case in My Life in Court. The story of the trial later became a Broadway play and was adapted for the movies.
The Canadian Hoax
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk: The Heroic True Story of 'The Gentle Spy'
That is the title of a book by Quentin Reynolds. The "Man Who Wouldn't Talk" was George DuPre, an Albertan who served with British Intelligence in France where he remained silent even after being tortured by the Gestapo. He did talk a lot after the war. He talked to service clubs, business groups and toured the country with the Canadian Forestry Association where "he spoke mostly on his sensational career as a saboteur and of arranging escapes for Allied airmen." Readers Digest and Random House became interested and Reynolds wrote the book.
The "heroic true story" turned out not to be true. No one had checked. The story had been universally accepted. About two weeks after the book was published someone who had served with DuPre showed up at the Calgary Herald and the hoax was exposed.
Poor DuPre had just wanted to impress his wife and the small lies he told became bigger ones told to larger audiences. Apparently money was not the motive and DuPre was apologetic: "I am truly sorry that I misled Quentin Reynolds and the editor's of Reader's Digest. These men were kindness itself to me and believed in me."
Reynold's remarked "that this may turn out to be my first novel." Bennet Cerf, the president of Random House came up with an ingenuous solution. The book was simply re-classified as "Fiction".
Sources:
The quotations in the section about the hoax are from: "Calgarian's Spy Role Is Exposed as Big Hoax," Globe and Mail, Nov. 16, 1953 or from the very thorough account: "Story Too Good To Be True," Joseph F. Dinnen, Boston Globe, Nov. 22, 1953.
Here is a short review of The Man Who Wouldn't Talk written before the hoax was exposed:
KIRKUS REVIEW
"An undemonstrative narrative of a Canadian born, British agent during the war is grave rather than dashing- and tells of George Dupre, a gentle, quiet, and deeply religious man who spent more than four years along side of the French underground and endured the brutalized inquisition of the Gestapo without betraying his identity. An intensive period of training in England groomed him for the alias of Pierre Touchette, an idiot, and he returned to Touchette's native town- Torigni- as a garage helper. His imbecility of speech and gesture gave him a certain immunity from the Germans as during the years ammunition was stolen as well as cars, installations dynamited, and British pilots rescued. But aged Madame Bouvot, who worked along with him, was to use her own life as a means of taking that of several German officers; and Armand, a boy of 14, was shot by a firing squad before his eyes. During the ordeal of questioning, his nose was broken and ""reset"" twice by the same fist; boiling water was poured down his throat; and hypodermics applied the final torture from which he emerged damaged in body but unbroken in spirit. He then went to Hamburg as forced labor in a plant where they sank ""the subs before they got wet""; returned to Torigni, and finally to England where he experienced a delayed reaction to the experiences endured and witnessed..... A plain clothes, not cloak and sword, version of the foreign agent- whose survival depends on a sober, steady, precise obedience to his superiors and his orders and takes its stamina from an inner faith. The Quentin Reynolds name will help to carry this to a wide audience." Pub Date: Oct. 23rd, 1953
Post Script:
One of those odd coincidences - this article just appeared in the New York Times: "It's a Fact: Mistakes are Embarrassing the Publishing Industry," Alexandra Alter, Sept. 22, 2019.
Bibliography of Books by Quentin Reynolds
Britain Can Take It, Dutton, 1941.
The Wounded Don't Cry, Dutton, 1941.
A London Diary, Random House, 1941.
Convoy , Random House, 1942 (published in England as Don't Think It Hasn't been Fun)
American Arms, Todd, 1942.
Only the Stars are Neutral, Random House, 1942.
Dress Rehearsal: The Story of Dieppe, Random House, 1943.
The Curtain Rises, Random House, 1944.
Officially Dead: The Story of Commander C.D. Smith, Random House, 1945.
70,000 to 1: The Story of Lieutenant Gordon Manuel, Random House, 1946.
Leave It to the People, Random House, 1949.
The Wright Brothers, Pioneers of American Aviation, Random House, 1950.
Courtroom: The Story of Samuel S. Leibowitz, Farrar, Straus, 1950,
Custer's Last Stand, Random House, 1951.
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk, Random House, 1953.
I, Willie Sutton, Farrar, Straus, 1953.
The Battle of Britain (illustrated by Clayton Knight), Random House, 1953.
The Amazing Mr. Doolittle: A Biography of Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle, Appleton-Century, 1953.
The F.B.I., Random House, 1954, reprinted, 1963.
The Life of Saint Patrick, Random House, 1955.
Headquarters, Harper, 1955, reprinted, Greenwood Press, 1972
The Fiction Factory; or, From Pulp Row to Quality Street: The Story of 100 Years of Publishing at Street & Smith, Random House, 1955.
Operation Success, Duell, Sloan, 1957.
They Fought for the Sky: The Dramatic Story of the First War in the Air, Rinehart, 1957.
Known but to God, J. Day, 1960.
Minister of Death: The Adolf Eichmann Story , Viking, 1960.
By Quentin Reynolds (autobiography), McGraw-Hill, 1963.
Winston Churchill, Random House, 1963 (published in England as All about Winston Churchill, W.H. Allen, 1964 ).
With Fire and Sword: Great War Adventures, Dial Press, 1963.
Macapagal, D. McKay, 1965.
