Sherrod, Robert Lee, 1909-1994

Journalist.

From the description of Reminiscences of Robert Lee Sherrod : oral history, 1972. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122528205

Robert Lee Sherrod (1909-1994) was an American war correspondent, editor, and author. Born on February 8, 1909 in Thomas County, Georgia, he graduated from the University of Georgia in 1929 and began his newspaper career (1929-1935) as a reporter for various newspapers in the south. From 1935-1952, he served with Time and Life magazines as their Washington correspondent, associate editor and War and Far East Correspondent. From 1952-1966, he worked for the Saturday Evening Post as magazine editor, editor and editor-at-large. In 1965, he also took on the responsibilities of editorial coordinator for the Curtis Publishing Company and was named its vice-president in 1965.

Sherrod covered several battles during World War II, and went ashore with the U.S. Marines at the Battle of Tarawa, an experience narrated in his book Tarawa: the story of a Battle (1944). The U. S. Navy Department commended Mr. Sherrod at the Battle of Attu and at the Battle of Tarawa in 1943. In 1944, he was the recipient of the Headlines Club award for war reporting. He also received the Benjamin Franklin award in 1954, and the Overseas Press Club Certificate in 1955.

Sherrod's other books include On to Westward: the Battles of Saipan and Iwo Jima (1945), and History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II (1952). He co-authored the text for Life's Picture History of World War II (1950) and Kobonshi's Picture History of the Pacific War in Japanese.

Sherrod's first wife, Elizabeth Hudson, whom he married in 1936, died in 1958, leaving two children, John and Robert Lee. In 1961 Mr. Sherrod married Margaret C. Ruff; after their divorce in 1972 he married Mary Gay Labrot Leonhardt, who died in 1978.

From the guide to the Robert Lee Sherrod Papers, 1910-1963, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)