Biography

Exhaustion from overwork and depression over his failure to convince the FBI to investigate evidence of a Nazi fifth column movement he believed he uncovered in Mexico, are thought to have led to his suicide. An unsigned note found on a dresser in his hotel room said, "In my clothes is $43 in cash. I think my bill is about $32. Give the hotel $32".

An avid circus fan, he wrote over 500 stories on circus life, many about "Old Mom", a wise old circus elephant. His enthusiasm for circuses earned him the title "Circus Fan No. 1".

As a boy he ran away from home to become a circus clown. Later he worked as a circus press agent and for awhile press agent for Buffalo Bill Cody's (aka Buffalo Bill) Wild West Show.

As a newspaperman he worked on the Kansas City Star, the New York World, the Chicago Tribune and the Denver Post.