Ralph Pulitzer
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Influential publisher and socialite Ralph Pulitzer (June 11, 1879 – June 14, 1939) was the son of newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer and upon Pulitzer's death acquired control of the New York World, an influential American newspaper. For decades, Ralph Pulitzer was one of the most influential men in American journalism.
Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, Pulitzer was raised in great wealth and attended first St. Mark's School of Southborough and then Harvard University. He was married twice, once to Frederica Vanderbilt Webb and once to Margaret Leech, who, incidentally, had received two Pulitzer Prizes. (These awards were endowed by Ralph Pulitzer's father, Joseph.)
An active supporter of the National Air Races, Ralph Pulitzer sponsored the Pulitzer Trophy Race to encourage higher speed in landplanes.
Ralph Pulitzer is the author of "Over the Front in an Aeroplane and scenes inside the French and Flemish Trenches" (NY: A.L.Burt, 1915), which he wrote after spending several days as the guest of the French War Office during World War I. According to his introduction, "No other civilian has been allowed to ascend in a French army aeroplane at all, and as for visiting the front in one, it has apparently been undreamed of." His book contains wonderful descriptions of life in the trenches and the artillery used by the French in the early months of the War. It also includes sixteen photographs taken during his tour of several locations on the Front (presumedly by the author or someone in his party).
