Ault, Phillip H., 1914-

Phillip Halliday Ault was born in Maywood, Ill., on Apr. 26, 1914 and graduated from DePauw University in 1935. From 1935-1937 he was a reporter for the LaGrange (Ill.) citizen. In 1938 he became a corresponding editor for UPI, serving in Chicago, New York City, Iceland, North Africa, and London, where he was bureau chief in 1944-1945. In 1948 he became assistant managing editor and director of the editorial page for the Times-Mirror Company in Los Angeles. From 1948-1957 he was editorial page editor of the Los Angeles mirror news, and from 1958-1968, executive editor and vice-president of Associated desert newspapers in Palm Springs. In 1968 he returned to the Midwest as associate editor of the South Bend (Ind.) tribune, retiring in 1979. He authored or co-authored 18 books and contributed articles to the Saturday evening post, American heritage, American legion, and other journals. He was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 1998 and into the DePauw University Media Wall of Fame in Oct. 2001.

Biography

Phillip Halliday Ault was born in Maywood, Illinois, on April 26, 1914. He graduated from DePauw University in 1935. From 1935 to 1937, he was a reporter for the LaGrange (Illinois) Citizen . In 1938, he became a corresponding editor for UPI, serving in Chicago, New York City, Iceland, North Africa, and London, where he was bureau chief in 1944-1945. In 1948, he left UPI to become assistant managing editor and director of the editorial page for the Times-Mirror Company in Los Angeles. From 1948 to 1957, he was editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Mirror-News, and from 1958-1968, executive editor and vice president of Associated Desert Newspapers, in Palm Springs. In 1968, he returned to the Midwest as associate editor of the South Bend (Indiana) Tribune . He retired in 1979, and died in Sun City West, Arizona, on July 2, 2001.

In addition to his wire service and newspaper work, Ault was a prolific writer, authoring or co-authoring 18 books: Springboard to Berlin (1943); This is the Desert (1959); Reporting the News (1959, coauthor); News Around the Clock (1960); Introduction to Mass Communications (1960, co-author), used as a textbook in over 400 colleges and universities; How to Live in California (1961); Home Book of Western Humor (1967); Wonders of the Mosquito World (1970); These Are the Great Lakes (1972); Wires West (1974); All Aboard (1976); By the Seat of Their Pants (1978); Perspectives on Mass Communications (1982, co-author); Whistles Round the Bend (1982); Reporting and Writing the News (1983, co-author); Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics (1986, co-author); Santa Maria Historical Photo Album (1987). Three of these books were Junior Literary Guild selections, and All Aboard received a Spur from the Western Writers of America for the best juvenile book of 1976. Ault also contributed articles to the Saturday Evening Post, American Heritage, American Legion, Argosy, Phil Delta Kappan, The Scroll, True West, and Michiana .

Ault was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame in 1998, and into the DePauw University Media Wall of Fame in October 2001.

Source: Who Was Who in America, 14 (New Providence, NJ: Marquis Who's Who, c2002), 11.