This book was written in 1939 by prolific American novelist Edna Ferber (1885-1968) who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1925. She first met William Allen White when they covered the 1912 Republican National Convention for the same newspaper syndicate. They became close lifelong friends. Ferber handwrote on book's front flyleaf "You're so much a part of my life, dear Will, that this book isn't only me - it's you, too. At least, you're involved in whatever is good in it. Edna. February 1940"