Louis La Coss was born January 8, 1890 at Erie, Pennsylvania to William and Caroline La Coss. His parents moved to Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, where Louis graduated high school. They later moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where Louis and his sister Gertrude earned degrees from the University of Kansas. Louis was the last editor of the University's student newspaper, the Kansan, before it became a formal adjunct of the School of Journalism, and was the newspaper's first editor when it became the Daily Kansan . He joined the staff of Missouri's St. Louis Globe-Democrat, where he became vice president and editorial page editor. In 1952, he earned a Pulitzer Prize--the newspaper's first--for his editorial on a cheating scandal at West Point. La Coss died on February 17, 1966.
From the guide to the Louis La Coss letters, 1952-1953, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
