Inducted 2006
William Marion Reedy is remembered today for his magazines, but few realize he began his writing career at the Missouri Republican and later worked for the Globe-Democrat where he wrote a weekly column called “Sunday in Forest Park.” A flamboyant and controversial figure, Reedy was to become one of the most successful literary entrepreneurs of his day. As editor of the weekly Mirror from 1891 to 1920, Reedy became the catalyst in breaking down the nation’s genteel literary tradition, developing a native poetry, and helping to form some fifty significant poets. The magazine, based in St. Louis, gave wide exposure to writers like Emily Dickinson, Stephen Crane, Ezra Pound, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Amy Lowell, Sara Teasdale, Carl Sandburg, and Vachel Lindsay.
